In 2025, fire departments serving South Burlington responded to 203 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,072 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 319 | — | |
| 2022 | 196 | -38.6% | |
| 2023 | 186 | -5.1% | |
| 2024 | 168 | -9.7% | |
| 2025 | 203 | +20.8% |
For the 12 building fires South Burlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 106 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 | Outside area, other | 28 | 26.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 19.8% |
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 South Burlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 12 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Match | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Burlington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | 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. South Burlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,270 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 547 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 121 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 106 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 92 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 82 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 80 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 77 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 75 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 65 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 60 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 40.6 mi |
Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Vermont cities with population within ±25% of South Burlington. 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.