In 2025, fire departments serving Providence responded to 972 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
5,656 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,149 | — | |
| 2022 | 1,446 | +25.8% | |
| 2023 | 1,109 | -23.3% | |
| 2024 | 980 | -11.6% | |
| 2025 | 972 | -0.8% |
For the 67 building fires Providence departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,869 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 | 579 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 280 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 238 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 110 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 88 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 60 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 59 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 46 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 39 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 31 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 339 | 18.1% |
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 Providence mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 1,251 | 66.9% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 100 | 5.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 92 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 70 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 60 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 60 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 41 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 27 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 25 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 22 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 121 | 6.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Providence departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Providence sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,671 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 25.8 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
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.