In 2025, fire departments serving Chepachet responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
177 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | +107.4% | |
| 2023 | 44 | -21.4% | |
| 2024 | 26 | -40.9% | |
| 2025 | 24 | -7.7% |
For the 4 building fires Chepachet departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 74 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 | 26 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Other | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 16.2% |
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 Chepachet mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 13.5% | |
| 2 | Match | 9 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 16.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chepachet sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,932 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 38.2 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 | 02814 | 174 |
Six Rhode Island cities with population within ±25% of Chepachet. 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.