In 2025, fire departments serving Cabot responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
95 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $73K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +38.5% | |
| 2023 | 36 | +100.0% | |
| 2024 | 14 | -61.1% | |
| 2025 | 14 | +0.0% |
For the 1 building fires Cabot departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 10.0% |
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 Cabot mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Candle | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 1 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cabot departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cabot sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 22 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 752 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 50 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 27 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 6.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 15 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 46.0 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Cabot. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cabot.
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.