In 2025, fire departments serving Auburn responded to 136 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 60% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
986 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 203 | — | |
| 2022 | 211 | +3.9% | |
| 2023 | 233 | +10.4% | |
| 2024 | 203 | -12.9% | |
| 2025 | 136 | -33.0% |
For the 14 building fires Auburn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 248 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 | 45 | 18.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 40 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 40 | 16.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 11 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 69 | 27.8% |
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 Auburn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 138 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 8 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 9.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Auburn departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Auburn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,909 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 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 21.1 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 Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Auburn. 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.