In 2025, fire departments serving Orford responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
102 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $102K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | -25.0% | |
| 2024 | 37 | +76.2% | |
| 2025 | 14 | -62.2% |
* Well below Orford'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 2 building fires Orford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 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 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 1 | 10.0% |
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 Orford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Fireworks | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Orford departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Orford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,596 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 45.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03777 | 102 |
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Orford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Orford.
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.