In 2025, fire departments serving Acushnet responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
509 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $978K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 70 | — | |
| 2022 | 117 | +67.1% | |
| 2023 | 120 | +2.6% | |
| 2024 | 110 | -8.3% | |
| 2025 | 92 | -16.4% |
For the 4 building fires Acushnet departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 70 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 | Outside area, other | 16 | 22.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 7 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 17.1% |
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 Acushnet mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 9 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 11.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Acushnet departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Acushnet sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 901 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 26 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 9.7 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Acushnet. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.