In 2025, fire departments serving Vermont responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
38 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1 cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 7 | -46.2% | |
| 2023 | 7 | +0.0% | |
| 2024* | 1 | — | |
| 2025 | 10 | — |
* Well below Vermont'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 2 building fires Vermont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Other | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Multiple areas | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Vermont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vermont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,568 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 37 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 42.7 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 Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Vermont. 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.