In 2025, fire departments serving Rensselaer responded to 186 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $185K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
982 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $803K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 134 | — | |
| 2022 | 184 | +37.3% | |
| 2023 | 215 | +16.8% | |
| 2024 | 263 | +22.3% | |
| 2025 | 186 | -29.3% |
For the 11 building fires Rensselaer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 23.3% |
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 Rensselaer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 12 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 15.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rensselaer departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $185,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rensselaer sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,095 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 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 146 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 25.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 90 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 79 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 40.8 mi |
Top 6 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 Rensselaer. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rensselaer.
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.