In 2025, fire departments serving Edgartown responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
250 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $221K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 76 | — | |
| 2024 | 80 | +5.3% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -47.5% |
* Well below Edgartown'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 7 building fires Edgartown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | 6 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 22.2% |
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 Edgartown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Match | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Edgartown departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Edgartown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 14 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 341 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 11 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 24.6 mi |
Top 3 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 Edgartown. 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.