In 2025, fire departments serving Arlington responded to 412 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 75% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,155 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $7.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 488 | — | |
| 2022 | 440 | -9.8% | |
| 2023 | 384 | -12.7% | |
| 2024 | 431 | +12.2% | |
| 2025 | 412 | -4.4% |
For the 9 building fires Arlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 169 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 | 55 | 32.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 7 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 24.9% |
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 Arlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 56 | 33.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 17 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 12.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Arlington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $18,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Arlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,685 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 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 39.2 mi |
Top 6 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 Arlington. 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.