In 2025, fire departments serving Essex responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
217 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $998K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | -36.4% | |
| 2023 | 45 | +28.6% | |
| 2024 | 38 | -15.6% | |
| 2025 | 44 | +15.8% |
For the 4 building fires Essex departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 24.2% |
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 Essex mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 21.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Match | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Essex departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Essex sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,602 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 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 8.1 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 | 01929 | 217 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Essex. 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.