In 2025, fire departments serving Pelham responded to 88 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
413 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $339K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 60 | — | |
| 2022 | 101 | +68.3% | |
| 2023 | 82 | -18.8% | |
| 2024 | 82 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 88 | +7.3% |
For the 0 building fires Pelham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Office | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 27.3% |
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 Pelham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pelham sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,998 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 44.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 39.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 12.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 30.2 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 Pelham. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pelham.
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.