In 2025, fire departments serving Winchester responded to 65 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
122 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $668K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023 | 20 | — | |
| 2024 | 23 | +15.0% | |
| 2025 | 65 | +182.6% |
* Well below Winchester's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Winchester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Wall assembly | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 9.1% |
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 Winchester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 7 | 31.8% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Sunlight | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winchester departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winchester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,584 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 47.1 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Winchester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Winchester.
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.