In 2025, fire departments serving Chittenden County responded to 811 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips.
5,070 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,041 | |
| 2022 | 1,132 | |
| 2023 | 1,087 | |
| 2024 | 999 | |
| 2025 | 811 |
For the 78 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Chittenden County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 82% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | SOUTH BURLINGTON | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $750,000 | SOUTH BURLINGTON | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $310,000 | BURLINGTON | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $300,000 | BURLINGTON | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $300,000 | Jericho | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $150,000 | BURLINGTON | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $150,000 | Essex | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $150,000 | Underhill | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $150,000 | Underhill | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $150,000 | Underhill | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 50007.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Burlington | 44,646 | View › |
| Essex | 22,095 | View › |
| South Burlington | 20,241 | View › |
| Colchester | 17,546 | View › |
| Milton | 10,720 | View › |
| Essex Junction | 10,646 | View › |
| Williston | 10,073 | View › |
| Winooski | 8,122 | View › |
| Shelburne | 7,751 | View › |
| Jericho | 5,105 | View › |
| Hinesburg | 4,695 | View › |
| Richmond | 4,157 | 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.