In 2025, fire departments serving Niagara responded to 13 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 92% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
61 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $25K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | +23.1% | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 12 | — | |
| 2025 | 13 | +8.3% |
* Well below Niagara'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 7 building fires Niagara departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | Undetermined | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Niagara mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 28.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Niagara sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,337 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,625 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 806 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 154 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 134 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 129 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 110 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 103 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 103 | 2.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 103 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 97 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | 87 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 85 | 27.4 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 Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Niagara. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Niagara.
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.