In 2025, fire departments serving New City responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 61% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
443 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 119 | +38.4% | |
| 2023* | 44 | — | |
| 2024 | 79 | — | |
| 2025 | 115 | +45.6% |
* Well below New City's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires New City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 2 | Function area, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 12.5% |
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 City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 62.5% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Candle | 1 | 6.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,800 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 5.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 11.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 8.6 mi |
Top 7 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 New City. 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.