In 2025, fire departments serving Boscawen responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $170K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Dec peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
200 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +7.7% | |
| 2023 | 33 | +17.9% | |
| 2024 | 49 | +48.5% | |
| 2025 | 64 | +30.6% |
For the 20 building fires Boscawen departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 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 | 20.5% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 11.4% |
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 Boscawen mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Boscawen departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $170,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Boscawen sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,319 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 7.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 30 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 37.6 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 | 03303 | 200 |
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Boscawen. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Boscawen.
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.