In 2025, fire departments serving Saratoga Springs responded to 244 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 63% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,164 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $385K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 168 | — | |
| 2022 | 264 | +57.1% | |
| 2023 | 257 | -2.7% | |
| 2024 | 231 | -10.1% | |
| 2025 | 244 | +5.6% |
For the 24 building fires Saratoga Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 8 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 33.3% |
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 Saratoga Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 10.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Saratoga Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Saratoga Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
15 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,779 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Smoking | 310 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 190 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 45.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 6.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 75 | 41.3 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 York cities with population within ±25% of Saratoga Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Saratoga Springs.
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.