In 2025, fire departments serving Chatham responded to 124 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
676 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 115 | — | |
| 2022 | 166 | +44.3% | |
| 2023 | 127 | -23.5% | |
| 2024 | 144 | +13.4% | |
| 2025 | 124 | -13.9% |
For the 9 building fires Chatham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 47 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 | 17.0% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 29.8% |
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 Chatham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 11 | 23.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 14.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chatham departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chatham sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 9 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 231 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 11 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 | 8.6 mi |
Top 6 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 Chatham. 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.