In 2025, fire departments serving Shelton responded to 222 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 74% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,614 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $10.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 230 | — | |
| 2022 | 342 | +48.7% | |
| 2023 | 381 | +11.4% | |
| 2024 | 439 | +15.2% | |
| 2025 | 222 | -49.4% |
For the 2 building fires Shelton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 238 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 | 68 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 47 | 19.7% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 20 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 14 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 17.6% |
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 Shelton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 148 | 62.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Candle | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shelton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shelton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 3 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,815 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,050 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 33.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 37.8 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Connecticut cities with population within ±25% of Shelton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.