In 2025, fire departments serving Waterford responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
275 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $442K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | +26.8% | |
| 2023 | 67 | -5.6% | |
| 2024 | 48 | -28.4% | |
| 2025 | 33 | -31.2% |
For the 7 building fires Waterford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 14.3% |
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 Waterford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Candle | 1 | 14.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waterford sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 3 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,184 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 28.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 24.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 28.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 90 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 70 | 39.0 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 New York cities with population within ±25% of Waterford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Waterford.
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.