In 2025, fire departments serving Winsted responded to 178 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
831 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 155 | — | |
| 2022 | 173 | +11.6% | |
| 2023 | 147 | -15.0% | |
| 2024 | 178 | +21.1% | |
| 2025 | 178 | +0.0% |
For the 3 building fires Winsted departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 51 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 | 12 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 15.7% |
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 Winsted mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 60.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Incendiary device | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winsted departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winsted sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
106 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 | 8 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 23 | |
| 30-39 | 30 | |
| 40-49 | 23 | |
| 50-59 | 16 | |
| 60-69 | 6 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,715 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 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 17.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 17.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 17.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 154 | 27.7 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 Winsted. 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.