In 2025, fire departments serving Pittsford responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 76% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
83 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $833K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 13 | — | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 25 | — |
* Well below Pittsford'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 Pittsford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Closet | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 12.5% |
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 Pittsford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pittsford departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pittsford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,154 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 190 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 121 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 117 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 95 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 82 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 75 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 65 | 34.0 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 | 05763 | 83 |
Six Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Pittsford. 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.