In 2025, fire departments serving Adams responded to 76 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
426 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 90 | — | |
| 2022 | 90 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 83 | -7.8% | |
| 2024 | 87 | +4.8% | |
| 2025 | 76 | -12.6% |
For the 12 building fires Adams departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 143 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 62 | 43.4% | |
| 2 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 9 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 7 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 18.9% |
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 Adams mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 67 | 46.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 21 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 7.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Adams departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $17,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,500 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Adams sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,249 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 6.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 79 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 21.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 65 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 58 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 55 | 32.9 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 Adams. 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.