In 2025, fire departments serving Sanbornton responded to 89 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
430 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $363K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | — | |
| 2022 | 91 | +16.7% | |
| 2023 | 85 | -6.6% | |
| 2024 | 87 | +2.4% | |
| 2025 | 89 | +2.3% |
For the 4 building fires Sanbornton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 84 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 | 31 | 36.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 14.3% |
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 Sanbornton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Match | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sanbornton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sanbornton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,191 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 6.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 25.7 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Sanbornton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sanbornton.
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.