In 2025, fire departments serving Niskayuna responded to 85 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 48% of all calls.
May peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
330 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $787K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 108 | — | |
| 2022 | 79 | -26.9% | |
| 2023 | 52 | -34.2% | |
| 2024* | 6 | — | |
| 2025 | 85 | — |
* Well below Niskayuna'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 8 building fires Niskayuna departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | Other | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 21.4% |
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 Niskayuna mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 7 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Niskayuna departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Niskayuna sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,285 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 146 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 25.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 23.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 90 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 43.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 29.3 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 New York cities with population within ±25% of Niskayuna. 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.