In 2025, fire departments serving Scarsdale responded to 232 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,258 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.4M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 234 | — | |
| 2022 | 288 | +23.1% | |
| 2023 | 279 | -3.1% | |
| 2024 | 225 | -19.4% | |
| 2025 | 232 | +3.1% |
For the 10 building fires Scarsdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 71 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Equipment or service area, other | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Wall assembly | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 29.6% |
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 Scarsdale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 14 | 19.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 13 | 18.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 5 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Candle | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Scarsdale departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $29,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,500 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Scarsdale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 4 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,038 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 28.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 9.5 mi |
Top 9 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 Scarsdale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Scarsdale.
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.