In 2025, fire departments serving Theresa responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
167 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $100K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 23 | +4.5% | |
| 2023* | 20 | — | |
| 2024 | 56 | — | |
| 2025 | 46 | -17.9% |
* Well below Theresa's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 8 building fires Theresa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 9 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 18.5% |
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 Theresa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 51.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Theresa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 582 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 75 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 68 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 66 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 22.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 29 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 21 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 26.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 15 | 48.2 mi |
Top 3 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 Theresa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Theresa.
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.