In 2025, fire departments serving Medford responded to 242 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
994 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 45 | — | |
| 2022 | 181 | — | |
| 2023 | 225 | +24.3% | |
| 2024 | 301 | +33.8% | |
| 2025 | 242 | -19.6% |
* Well below Medford's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Medford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 10.0% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Medford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 80.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 20.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Medford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,260 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,050 | 16.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 1.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 8.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 1.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 152 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 125 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 125 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 1.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 1.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 46.0 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Medford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Medford.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.