In 2025, fire departments serving Harvard responded to 72 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 50% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
328 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $404K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | -17.5% | |
| 2023 | 88 | +87.2% | |
| 2024 | 64 | -27.3% | |
| 2025 | 72 | +12.5% |
For the 3 building fires Harvard departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | 13 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 6 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 13.6% |
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 Harvard mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 8 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 12.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Match | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 10.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harvard departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,800 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harvard sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,023 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 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 3.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 2.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 3.0 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 Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Harvard. 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.