In 2025, fire departments serving Chester responded to 27 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 74% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
78 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $270K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | -36.4% | |
| 2023* | 6 | — | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 27 | — |
* Well below Chester'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 4 building fires Chester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | Other | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 10.5% |
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 Chester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 5.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,600 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 19.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 137 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 42.9 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 | 01011 | 78 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Chester. 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.