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2025 County Report

Fires in Ontario County, NY

In 2025, fire departments serving Ontario County responded to 674 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $60K property loss.

105,800 residents FIPS 36069 63 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
674
4,179 across 5 years
Building fires
62
12 wildland
Property loss
$88K
$63K structure · $25K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.

674
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 140 20.8%
Power line down 109 16.2%
Hazardous condition, other 89 13.2%
Building fires 62 9.2%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 38 5.6%
All other categories 236 35.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Ontario County?

May peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 45
Feb 43
Mar 58
Apr 68
May 69
Jun 69
Jul 60
Aug 69
Sep 49
Oct 67
Nov 58
Dec 19
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Ontario County

4,179 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 869
2022 1,102
2023 883
2024 651
2025 674
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 62 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
67%
10
Cause undetermined
20%
3
Intentional / arson
7%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $63K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Ontario County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $60,000 FARMINGTON Passenger vehicle fire Significant
2 $2,000 Phelps Building fires Significant
3 $500 FARMINGTON Special outside fire, other Significant
06 How Ontario County compares

Ontario County vs NY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.37
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Ontario County
6.37
NY avg
3.48
US avg
7.15
0.59
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Ontario County
0.59
NY avg
0.2
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Ontario County
0
NY avg
1.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Ontario County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 36069.

09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in NY

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Great Kills Blowup 2010 NPS 143
2 GK3 1996 NPS 98
3 NYIRR-FY19-RX-J Units 2019 FWS 81
4 GK06-01 2006 NPS 60
5 DRIFTFENCE 2001 NPS 58
6 north40 1997 NPS 51
7 HugeFire 1994 NPS 46
8 GOLF 2006 NPS 45
9 GRKILLS002 1999 NPS 41
10 Spring Creek 1 2014 NPS 39

About this data

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.