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2025 County Report

Fires in Otsego County, NY

In 2025, fire departments serving Otsego County responded to 352 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss.

63,087 residents FIPS 36077 96 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
352
1,803 across 5 years
Building fires
36
4 wildland
Property loss
$1.1M
$722K structure · $344K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 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 66% of all calls.

352
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 69 19.6%
Hazardous condition, other 62 17.6%
Power line down 41 11.6%
Building fires 36 10.2%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 26 7.4%
All other categories 118 33.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Otsego County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 21
Feb 25
Mar 45
Apr 28
May 25
Jun 31
Jul 40
Aug 21
Sep 29
Oct 31
Nov 37
Dec 19
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Otsego County

1,803 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 222
2022 450
2023 407
2024 372
2025 352
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 36 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
46%
21
Cause undetermined
9%
4
Intentional / arson
11%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
4
Under investigation
24%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $718K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Otsego County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 Milford Building fires Major
2 $100,000 Oneonta Building fires Significant
3 $60,000 Oneonta Building fires Significant
4 $20,000 Oneonta Building fires Significant
5 $10,000 Oneonta Fire, other Significant
6 $10,000 Oneonta Building fires Significant
7 $6,000 Oneonta Building fires Significant
8 $5,000 Oneonta Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $5,000 Oneonta Cooking fire, confined to container Significant
10 $1,500 Oneonta Building fires Significant
06 How Otsego County compares

Otsego County vs NY vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.58
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Otsego County
5.58
NY avg
3.48
US avg
7.15
0.57
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Otsego County
0.57
NY avg
0.2
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Otsego County
0
NY avg
1.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Otsego County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 36077.

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.