In 2025, fire departments serving Utica responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
318 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | -17.2% | |
| 2023 | 72 | +50.0% | |
| 2024 | 77 | +6.9% | |
| 2025 | 63 | -18.2% |
For the 7 building fires Utica 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 | Undetermined | 78 | 73.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 5.7% |
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 Utica mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 87 | 82.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Utica departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Utica sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,639 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 4,152 | 16.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 4,109 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 622 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 493 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 486 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 378 | 21.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 363 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 306 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 41.4 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 Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Utica. 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.