In 2025, fire departments serving Grantham responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 84% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
229 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | — | |
| 2023 | 54 | +14.9% | |
| 2024 | 43 | -20.4% | |
| 2025 | 67 | +55.8% |
* Well below Grantham'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 0 building fires Grantham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 5 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Grantham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 6.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Grantham sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,716 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 32.6 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Grantham. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Grantham.
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.