In 2025, fire departments serving Potsdam responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Potsdam's departments reported 21 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 55 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
274 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $324K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022 | 107 | +87.7% | |
| 2023 | 71 | -33.6% | |
| 2024* | 18 | — | |
| 2025* | 21 | — |
* Well below Potsdam'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 1 building fires Potsdam departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Chimney (conversion only) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 20.7% |
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 Potsdam mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 48.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Potsdam departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Potsdam sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,093 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Smoking | 255 | 20.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 0.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 68 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 66 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 49 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Smoking | 36 | 12.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 0.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 32 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 29 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 26 | 39.9 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 Potsdam. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Potsdam.
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.