In 2025, fire departments serving East Sandwich responded to 54 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $12K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
295 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $138K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65 | — | |
| 2022 | 72 | +10.8% | |
| 2023 | 49 | -31.9% | |
| 2024 | 55 | +12.2% | |
| 2025 | 54 | -1.8% |
For the 1 building fires East Sandwich departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Laboratory | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 9.5% |
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 East Sandwich mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by East Sandwich departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. East Sandwich sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 21 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 456 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 4.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 26 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 16 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 2.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 14 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 6.7 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 | 02537 | 295 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of East Sandwich. 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.