In 2025, fire departments serving Barre responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 67% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
424 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $869K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 76 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | -11.8% | |
| 2023 | 83 | +23.9% | |
| 2024 | 112 | +34.9% | |
| 2025 | 86 | -23.2% |
For the 2 building fires Barre departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 72 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 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 19.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 7 | 9.7% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 16.7% |
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 Barre mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 23.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Barre departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Barre sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,377 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 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 47.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01005 | 424 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Barre. 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.