In 2025, fire departments serving Acton responded to 70 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
319 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $309K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64 | — | |
| 2022 | 89 | +39.1% | |
| 2023* | 37 | — | |
| 2024 | 59 | — | |
| 2025 | 70 | +18.6% |
* Well below Acton's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 8 building fires Acton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 19.0% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Acton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 27.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 15.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Acton departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Acton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,994 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 32.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 30.3 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Acton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Acton.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.