In 2025, fire departments serving Poestenkill responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 79% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
221 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $578K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 41 | — | |
| 2023 | 69 | +68.3% | |
| 2024 | 72 | +4.3% | |
| 2025 | 28 | -61.1% |
* Well below Poestenkill'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 4 building fires Poestenkill departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | 8 | 53.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Poestenkill mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Poestenkill departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Poestenkill sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,972 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 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 17.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 90 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 79 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 65 | 13.8 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 Poestenkill. 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.