In 2025, fire departments serving Barnstable responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
323 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $860K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | — | |
| 2022 | 60 | -4.8% | |
| 2023 | 96 | +60.0% | |
| 2024 | 44 | -54.2% | |
| 2025 | 60 | +36.4% |
For the 6 building fires Barnstable departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | 9 | 15.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Closet | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 22.8% |
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 Barnstable mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 14.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 10.5% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 7.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Barnstable sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
32 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 | 10 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 13 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 393 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 10.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 14 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 11 | 1.8 mi |
Top 7 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 Barnstable. 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.