In 2025, fire departments serving Brewster responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Brewster's departments reported 67 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 113 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
565 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 180 | — | |
| 2022 | 127 | -29.4% | |
| 2023 | 115 | -9.4% | |
| 2024 | 76 | -33.9% | |
| 2025* | 67 | — |
* Well below Brewster'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 13 building fires Brewster departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | Undetermined | 7 | 15.2% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Service facilities, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 28.3% |
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 Brewster mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brewster departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brewster sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 11 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 301 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 11 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 | 5.4 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 Brewster. 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.