In 2025, fire departments serving Portville responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $110K 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 78% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
87 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $332K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 33 | — | |
| 2023 | 11 | -66.7% | |
| 2024 | 14 | +27.3% | |
| 2025 | 23 | +64.3% |
* Well below Portville'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 11 building fires Portville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | Other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 19.0% |
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 Portville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 38.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Portville departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $110,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Portville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,638 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 236 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Smoking | 120 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 92 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 88 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 78 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 68 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 64 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 56 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 56 | 37.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 54 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 52 | 20.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Portville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Portville.
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.