In 2025, fire departments across Vermont responded to 4,992 fire and hazmat incidents — including the South Side wildfire that burned 0 acres in 2021.
Vermont ranks #61 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 45% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Apr peaks across the window; Sep dips.
28,236 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5,421 | |
| 2022 | 6,331 | |
| 2023 | 5,858 | |
| 2024 | 5,634 | |
| 2025 | 4,992 |
For the 675 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined / missing | 1,006 | 206 / 800 | 805 | |
| 2 | Equipment & vehicle use | 553 | 50 / 503 | 53 | |
| 3 | Arson / incendiarism | 345 | 20 / 325 | 51 | |
| 4 | Debris & open burning | 320 | 320 / 0 | 723 | |
| 5 | Natural (lightning) | 112 | 18 / 94 | 18 | |
| 6 | Recreation & ceremony | 93 | 93 / 0 | 121 | |
| 7 | Other causes | 29 | 3 / 26 | 4 | |
| 8 | Smoking | 27 | 27 / 0 | 33 | |
| 9 | Power generation / utility | 25 | 25 / 0 | 232 | |
| 10 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 14 | 14 / 0 | 18 | |
| 11 | Railroad operations | 3 | 3 / 0 | 14 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 2 | 2 / 0 | 3 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 6,877 | $55.8M | 16 | |
| 2 | Electrical / wiring | 4,929 | $50K | 0 | |
| 3 | Gas leaks | 4,656 | $42K | 0 | |
| 4 | Outdoor fires | 4,275 | $181K | 1 | |
| 5 | Cooking-related | 2,105 | $117K | 0 | |
| 6 | Wildland fires | 1,831 | $175K | 1 | |
| 7 | Vehicle fires | 1,138 | $6.7M | 3 | |
| 8 | Rubbish / refuse | 618 | $180K | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 523 | $4.4M | 0 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 33% of Vermont'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 | $671,200 | HARTFORD | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $600,000 | Barre Town | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $571,000 | Saint Johnsbury | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $507,900 | Williston | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $500,000 | Charlotte | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $500,000 | Canaan | Fire, other | Major |
| 9 | $500,000 | Beecher Falls | Fire, other | Major |
| 10 | $500,000 | Beecher Falls | Fire, other | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Vermont apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chittenden County | 811 | 180,806 |
| 2 | Windsor County | 686 | 67,598 |
| 3 | Orange County | 493 | 29,765 |
| 4 | Caledonia County | 434 | 32,141 |
| 5 | Rutland County | 381 | 58,885 |
| 6 | Windham County | 339 | 53,247 |
| 7 | Bennington County | 332 | 42,388 |
| 8 | Washington County | 293 | 55,322 |
| 9 | Franklin County | 223 | 44,944 |
| 10 | Addison County | 168 | 38,070 |
Top 5 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Windsor County | 10.15 | 686 | 67,598 | |
| 2 | Rutland County | 6.47 | 381 | 58,885 | |
| 3 | Windham County | 6.37 | 339 | 53,247 | |
| 4 | Washington County | 5.30 | 293 | 55,322 | |
| 5 | Chittenden County | 4.49 | 811 | 180,806 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Side | 2021 | USFS | 0 |
1 perimeters and 0 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1 | 0 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 17 | |
| 2000s | 72 | |
| 2010s | 601 | |
| 2020s | 91 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 781 ignitions total.
134 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 4 | |
| 10-19 | 7 | |
| 20-29 | 26 | |
| 30-39 | 29 | |
| 40-49 | 16 | |
| 50-59 | 20 | |
| 60-69 | 14 | |
| 70-79 | 6 | |
| 80+ | 6 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.