In 2025, fire departments serving Owego responded to 52 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
232 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $412K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | — | |
| 2023 | 81 | +72.3% | |
| 2024* | 26 | — | |
| 2025 | 52 | — |
* Well below Owego'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 9 building fires Owego departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 23.1% |
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 Owego mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 41.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Owego departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Owego sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,082 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 102 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 53 | 16.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 52 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 43 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 40 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 11.2 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 Owego. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Owego.
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.