In 2025, fire departments serving Monticello responded to 200 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $354K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
741 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $737K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 104 | — | |
| 2022 | 124 | +19.2% | |
| 2023 | 152 | +22.6% | |
| 2024 | 161 | +5.9% | |
| 2025 | 200 | +24.2% |
For the 18 building fires Monticello departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | 8 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 25.0% |
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 Monticello mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Monticello departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $353,805 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $77,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $17,612 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,150 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Monticello sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 29,365 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 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 43.2 mi |
Top 3 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 Monticello. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Monticello.
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.