In 2025, fire departments serving Andover responded to 349 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $22K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,017 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $11.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 546 | — | |
| 2022 | 353 | -35.3% | |
| 2023 | 415 | +17.6% | |
| 2024 | 354 | -14.7% | |
| 2025 | 349 | -1.4% |
For the 13 building fires Andover departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 284 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 72 | 25.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 53 | 18.7% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 23 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 17 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 60 | 21.1% |
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 Andover mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 118 | 41.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 55 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 19 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 8.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Andover departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $22,100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $750 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Andover sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,679 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 7.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 27.9 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 Andover. 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.