In 2025, fire departments serving West Simsbury responded to 37 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 78% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
170 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +48.0% | |
| 2023 | 35 | -5.4% | |
| 2024 | 36 | +2.9% | |
| 2025 | 37 | +2.8% |
For the 1 building fires West Simsbury departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | Outside area, other | 5 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.6% |
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 West Simsbury mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 5.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Simsbury sits above 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 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 26.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 33.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 18.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 18.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 154 | 36.3 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 | 06092 | 170 |
Six Connecticut cities with population within ±25% of West Simsbury. 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.