In 2025, fire departments serving Bennington County responded to 332 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jul dips.
1,961 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 379 | |
| 2022 | 435 | |
| 2023 | 400 | |
| 2024 | 415 | |
| 2025 | 332 |
For the 43 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Bennington County during 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Arlington | Building fires | Significant |
| 2 | $110,000 | Dorset | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $5,000 | Peru | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant |
| 4 | $1,500 | North Bennington | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 50003.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Bennington | 15,338 | View › |
| Manchester | 4,488 | View › |
| Shaftsbury | 3,599 | View › |
| Pownal | 3,280 | View › |
| Arlington | 2,761 | View › |
| Dorset | 1,886 | View › |
| Manchester Center | 1,835 | View › |
| North Bennington | 1,420 | View › |
| Sunderland | 1,251 | View › |
| Stamford | 1,016 | View › |
| Winhall | 752 | View › |
| Readsboro | 736 | View › |
Top 1 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Side | 2021 | USFS | 0 |
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.