Connecticut
The public sources are an actively-filling NASFM collector (58 records, front-loaded and unapproved, with an inconsistent geography field) and a voluntary-participation NFIRS extract that undercounts and ends in 2022 — neither is a complete census with verifiable zeros.
Why this state isn't scored
The Fireground Index scores one comparable metric — the civilian fire-death rate — computed from exact per-county death counts and Census population. For Connecticut, no public source provides those counts completely and unsuppressed for all 8 counties. Rather than publish estimated, partial, or suppressed figures, the state is shown here transparently.
Sources checked
| Source | What it provides |
|---|---|
| NASFM Fire Fatality Data Hub — Connecticut (incl. its public dashboard) | Populated but incomplete: the county-bearing layer holds 58 records (only 32 approved), front-loaded by year (2021=3, 2022=2 vs CT's ~30–40 deaths/yr) — an in-progress collector, not a census. Its county field mixes 8 legacy county names and 9 planning-region names (19 distinct strings), so it does not resolve to a consistent per-county grain. |
| CT Open Data (Socrata) NFIRS incident datasets (data.ct.gov) & CFIRS reports | Incident-based and separates civilian from firefighter deaths, but is voluntary-participation NFIRS: civilian counts swing erratically (6–44/yr) and undercount, a town's 0 may be non-reporting rather than a true zero, geography is dirty (1,556 city strings), and coverage ends 2022. CFIRS is CAPTCHA/WAF-gated. |
| CT OSFM/DAS publications, USFA profile & CDC WONDER (X00–X09) | OSFM publishes no per-county/town fire-death table; USFA is statewide rate-only; CDC WONDER is residence-based and small-count suppressed. Census also phased CT's 8 legacy counties out of its county-equivalents (Vintage 2022+ → 9 planning regions), complicating denominators. |
What failed the source gate
Every state must clear this public-source standard before it is scored:
- Public & authoritative (a state fire-marshal / fire-agency or primary record)
- County-level (or the jurisdiction's county-equivalents)
- Civilian fire deaths, incident-based (counted where the fire occurred; firefighter line-of-duty excluded)
- Exact counts — not rates, not statistically suppressed small cells
- All counties present, with zero-death counties verifiable (not ambiguous omission)
- A recent 5-year window, or a best-available clearly-labeled window
Not met for Connecticut:
- A complete statewide census (NASFM is front-loaded/in-progress; NFIRS is voluntary)
- Verifiable zeros (a 0 is non-reporting, not a proven true zero)
- A consistent per-county grain (NASFM mixes counties and planning regions)
- A recent window with all 8 counties present (NFIRS ends 2022)
What data would unlock scoring
A complete, incident-based civilian fire-death census resolvable to all 8 counties (or all 169 municipalities, or all 9 planning regions) with explicit zeros, for a recent window.
Could a records request unlock it?
Likely yes. OSFM tracks statewide fire deaths at incident level; a records request for a complete per-town/county civilian fire-fatality census (recent window, explicit zeros, LODD excluded) — or NASFM maturing the Connecticut collection to an approved census with a normalized geography field — would unlock scoring.
Relevant office: Connecticut Office of State Fire Marshal / Commission on Fire Prevention & Control (portal.ct.gov/DAS)
Have this data? Help make Connecticut scoreable.
If you work with a state fire marshal’s office, fire-service data program, or public-health agency and can share a complete, per-county civilian fire-death dataset, we will evaluate it against the public-source standard and — if it qualifies — publish a fully-cited scorecard for Connecticut.
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