In 2025, fire departments serving Rochester responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
500 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 97 | — | |
| 2022 | 103 | +6.2% | |
| 2023 | 135 | +31.1% | |
| 2024 | 96 | -28.9% | |
| 2025 | 69 | -28.1% |
For the 6 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 119 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 | 37 | 31.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 30.3% |
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 | 21 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 12.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 12 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 8.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rochester departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 81% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rochester sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,136 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 3.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 45 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 44.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 38 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 37 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 33 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 30 | 25.1 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Rochester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 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.