In 2025, fire departments serving Cambridge responded to 244 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K 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 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,306 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 261 | — | |
| 2022 | 270 | +3.4% | |
| 2023 | 260 | -3.7% | |
| 2024 | 271 | +4.2% | |
| 2025 | 244 | -10.0% |
For the 101 building fires Cambridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 246 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 | 36 | 14.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 34 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 29 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 22 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 71 | 28.9% |
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 Cambridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 108 | 43.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 27 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 20 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 20 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 8.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cambridge departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 88% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $80,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cambridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 34,504 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,208 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,348 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 48.4 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Cambridge. 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.