In 2025, fire departments serving Mystic responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $288K 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 66% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
457 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.9M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 108 | — | |
| 2022 | 108 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 88 | -18.5% | |
| 2024 | 80 | -9.1% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -8.8% |
For the 14 building fires Mystic departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | Exterior, exposed surface | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 30.3% |
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 Mystic mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mystic departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $287,890 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $250 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mystic sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
15 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 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,789 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,050 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 32.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 152 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 28.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 75 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 51 | 41.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 47.7 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 Connecticut cities with population within ±25% of Mystic. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.