In 2025, fire departments serving Windsor responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $125K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
184 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $212K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 51 | +30.8% | |
| 2023 | 54 | +5.9% | |
| 2024* | 14 | — | |
| 2025 | 26 | — |
* Well below Windsor'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 12 building fires Windsor departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | Other | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Windsor mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Match | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Windsor departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Windsor sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,468 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 47 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 34.3 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Windsor. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Windsor.
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.