In 2025, fire departments serving Wheatley Heights responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
63 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 10 | -16.7% | |
| 2023 | 12 | +20.0% | |
| 2024 | 13 | +8.3% | |
| 2025 | 16 | +23.1% |
For the 2 building fires Wheatley Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 3 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 | 2 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 33.3% |
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 Wheatley Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 33.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wheatley Heights sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,443 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,050 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 22.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 230 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 190 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 185 | 47.9 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 Wheatley Heights. 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.