Home› Vermont› Richford
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Richford, Vermont

In 2025, fire departments serving Richford responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2023 Franklin County 2,459 residents 1 reporting departments 96 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Richford's departments reported 10 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 19 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
10
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
1
Residential 0% Other 100%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.

10
Total Incidents
Fire, other 2 20.0%
Power line down 2 20.0%
Building fires 1 10.0%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 1 10.0%
Incinerator overload or malfunction, fire confined 1 10.0%
All other categories 3 30.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 1
Feb 2
Mar 4
Apr 1
May 1
Jun 0
Jul 0
Aug 0
Sep 1
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Richford

96 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $144K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 20 —
2022 14 -30.0%
2023 35 +150.0%
2024 17 -51.4%
2025* 10 —

* Well below Richford'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 1 building fires Richford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Richford?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2 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 originCountShare 
1 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 1 50.0%
2 Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. 1 50.0%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Richford mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 1 50.0%
2 Undetermined 1 50.0%
05 How Richford compares

Richford vs Vermont vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Richford sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

4.07
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Richford
4.07
VT avg
7.51
US avg
7.48
0.41
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Richford
0.41
VT avg
1.08
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Richford
0
VT avg
8.9
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Richford

Top 12 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 262 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2012 Recreation and ceremony 50 31.3 mi
1995 Arson/incendiarism 45 41.8 mi
2012 Debris and open burning 27 28.5 mi
2009 Debris and open burning 25 46.7 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 20 37.8 mi
2001 Recreation and ceremony 15 41.8 mi
2016 Power generation/transmission/distribution 15 41.0 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 15 16.9 mi
2013 Debris and open burning 15 9.4 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 15 26.1 mi
2016 Debris and open burning 10 30.9 mi
2014 Smoking 10 40.7 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Richford do fires concentrate?

Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 05476 94
2 05450 2
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Richford

Six Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Richford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Richford?

1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Richford.

RICHFORD FD
48 Main Street
FDID 06516
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.