In 2025, fire departments serving New Canaan responded to 120 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
664 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 125 | — | |
| 2022 | 181 | +44.8% | |
| 2023 | 130 | -28.2% | |
| 2024 | 108 | -16.9% | |
| 2025 | 120 | +11.1% |
For the 6 building fires New Canaan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 59 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 15.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 10.2% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 5 | 8.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Roof surface: exterior | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 23.7% |
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 New Canaan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 30.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Canaan departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Canaan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,838 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 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 28.2 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 Connecticut cities with population within ±25% of New Canaan. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in New Canaan.
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.