In 2025, fire departments serving New Haven responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
126 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $361K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | +165.0% | |
| 2023 | 16 | -69.8% | |
| 2024* | 14 | — | |
| 2025 | 23 | — |
* Well below New Haven'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 21 building fires New Haven departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | Function area, other | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Haven mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 53.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 6.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Haven sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 16 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,208 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 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 75 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 65 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 30 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 24 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 21 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 13 | 33.1 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 New Haven. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in New Haven.
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.