In 2025, fire departments serving Pownal responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
177 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $111K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 50 | +127.3% | |
| 2023 | 41 | -18.0% | |
| 2024 | 39 | -4.9% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -35.9% |
For the 0 building fires Pownal departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | 7 | 36.8% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Closet | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Pownal mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 52.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 5.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pownal sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,569 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 5.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 17.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 65 | 29.4 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 Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Pownal. 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.