In 2025, fire departments serving Hampden responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $18K 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 57% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
285 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $196K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | +51.1% | |
| 2023 | 51 | -28.2% | |
| 2024 | 74 | +45.1% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -43.2% |
For the 1 building fires Hampden departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 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 | 17 | 21.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 11.2% | |
| 5 | Other | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 13.8% |
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 Hampden mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 18 | 22.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 18.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hampden departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $17,600 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hampden sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,344 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 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 49.6 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 | 34.8 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 | 01036 | 285 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Hampden. 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.