In 2025, fire departments serving Middletown responded to 308 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,637 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 273 | — | |
| 2022 | 426 | +56.0% | |
| 2023 | 346 | -18.8% | |
| 2024 | 284 | -17.9% | |
| 2025 | 308 | +8.5% |
For the 19 building fires Middletown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 109 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 15.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 16 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 9 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 31.2% |
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 Middletown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 19 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 9 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 17.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Middletown departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,500 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Middletown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,647 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 26.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 25.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 47.7 mi |
Top 6 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 Middletown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Middletown.
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.