In 2025, fire departments serving Naugatuck Valley Planning Region responded to 1,290 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $2.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips.
10,302 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,595 | |
| 2022 | 2,228 | |
| 2023 | 2,088 | |
| 2024 | 2,101 | |
| 2025 | 1,290 |
For the 49 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Naugatuck Valley Planning Region during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 90% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Cheshire | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $650,000 | Cheshire | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $150,000 | Cheshire | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $150,000 | CHESHIRE | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $100,000 | WATERTOWN | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $100,000 | BRISTOL | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $100,000 | Cheshire | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $100,000 | Cheshire | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $55,000 | Cheshire | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $40,000 | CHESHIRE | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 09140.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Waterbury | 114,480 | View › |
| Bristol | 61,052 | View › |
| Shelton | 41,206 | View › |
| Naugatuck | 31,653 | View › |
| Ansonia | 18,954 | View › |
| Derby | 12,373 | View › |
| Oakville | 9,387 | View › |
| Cheshire Village | 5,879 | View › |
| Terryville | 4,998 | View › |
| Heritage Village | 4,411 | View › |
| Bethlehem Village | 2,103 | View › |
| Woodbury Center | 1,445 | View › |
Top 1 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Falkner Island-Southern Management Unit | 2019 | FWS | 1 |
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.