In 2025, fire departments serving Willimantic responded to 157 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
806 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $961K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 165 | — | |
| 2022 | 123 | -25.5% | |
| 2023 | 170 | +38.2% | |
| 2024 | 191 | +12.4% | |
| 2025 | 157 | -17.8% |
For the 13 building fires Willimantic departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 118 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 | Undetermined | 18 | 15.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 22.9% |
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 Willimantic mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 71 | 60.2% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 3 | Match | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Willimantic departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Willimantic sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,354 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 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 43.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 137 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 125 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 110 | 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 Connecticut cities with population within ±25% of Willimantic. 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.