In 2025, fire departments serving Milford responded to 203 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
847 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 122 | — | |
| 2022 | 166 | +36.1% | |
| 2023 | 153 | -7.8% | |
| 2024 | 203 | +32.7% | |
| 2025 | 203 | +0.0% |
For the 55 building fires Milford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 222 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 | Undetermined | 121 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 13.1% |
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 Milford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 173 | 77.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Milford departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Milford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,496 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,208 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 33.1 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Delaware cities with population within ±25% of Milford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Milford.
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.