In 2025, fire departments serving Weatogue responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Feb peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
127 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | +3.6% | |
| 2023 | 23 | -20.7% | |
| 2024 | 28 | +21.7% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -32.1% |
For the 1 building fires Weatogue departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 4 | Assembly area without fixed seats - 100+ persons | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Weatogue mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 7.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Weatogue sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,660 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 26.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 17.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 17.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 154 | 36.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 06089 | 127 |
Six Connecticut cities with population within ±25% of Weatogue. 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.