In 2025, fire departments serving Barrington responded to 129 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
289 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $586K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 26 | — | |
| 2023 | 102 | — | |
| 2024* | 31 | — | |
| 2025 | 129 | — |
* Well below Barrington's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 8 building fires Barrington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 12.5% |
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 Barrington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 11 | 34.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Barrington departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Barrington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,208 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 40 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 30 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 28.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 32.8 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 | 02806 | 289 |
Six Rhode Island cities with population within ±25% of Barrington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Barrington.
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.