In 2025, fire departments serving Rome responded to 113 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 79% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
321 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $301K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58 | — | |
| 2022* | 33 | — | |
| 2023 | 40 | — | |
| 2024 | 77 | +92.5% | |
| 2025 | 113 | +46.8% |
* Well below Rome'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 4 building fires Rome departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | Undetermined | 6 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Structural area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 8.7% |
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 Rome mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 43.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 4.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rome sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 633 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 65 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 47 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 39 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 30 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 33.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 24 | 38.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 22 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 22 | 47.9 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 | 13440 | 321 |
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Rome. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rome.
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.