In 2025, fire departments serving Milford responded to 187 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K 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 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
771 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $774K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 133 | — | |
| 2022 | 131 | -1.5% | |
| 2023 | 157 | +19.8% | |
| 2024 | 163 | +3.8% | |
| 2025 | 187 | +14.7% |
For the 15 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 91 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 6 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 30.8% |
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 | 17 | 18.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 13 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 15.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Milford departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Incinerator overload or malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Milford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,086 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 43.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03055 | 771 |
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Milford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 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.