In 2025, fire departments serving Rochester responded to 55 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
237 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $120K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 51 | +2.0% | |
| 2023 | 43 | -15.7% | |
| 2024 | 38 | -11.6% | |
| 2025 | 55 | +44.7% |
For the 20 building fires Rochester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 106 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 26.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 17 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 14 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 9 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 8.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 11.3% |
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 Rochester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 37.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 9 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Match | 7 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 10.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rochester departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rochester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,815 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 3.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 39.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 62563 | 237 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Rochester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rochester.
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.