In 2025, fire departments serving Montour Falls responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K 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 62% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
110 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $231K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | +17.6% | |
| 2023 | 22 | +10.0% | |
| 2024 | 25 | +13.6% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +4.0% |
For the 6 building fires Montour Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | Other | 11 | 26.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 22.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 19.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 12.2% |
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 Montour Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 26 | 63.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Montour Falls departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Montour Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,132 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 694 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 130 | 29.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 33.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 34.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 52 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 25.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 34.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 16.8 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 New York cities with population within ±25% of Montour Falls. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Montour Falls.
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.