In 2025, fire departments serving Rochester responded to 119 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
354 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 7 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | — | |
| 2023 | 89 | +71.2% | |
| 2024 | 87 | -2.2% | |
| 2025 | 119 | +36.8% |
* Well below Rochester'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.
For the 7 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 44 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 | Outside area, other | 10 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 13.6% |
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 | Arcing | 9 | 20.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 22.7% |
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. 874 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 26 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 40.9 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 Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Rochester. 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.