In 2025, fire departments serving Stowe responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 89% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
121 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $36K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | -20.0% | |
| 2023 | 33 | +106.2% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -27.3% | |
| 2025 | 28 | +16.7% |
For the 10 building fires Stowe departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 20.0% |
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 Stowe mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 64.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 4.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Stowe sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,163 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 30 | 46.2 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 Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Stowe. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Stowe.
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.