In 2025, fire departments serving Hopedale responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $145K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
386 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $486K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 89 | — | |
| 2022 | 77 | -13.5% | |
| 2023 | 78 | +1.3% | |
| 2024 | 67 | -14.1% | |
| 2025 | 75 | +11.9% |
For the 4 building fires Hopedale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | 15.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 28.9% |
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 Hopedale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 10.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hopedale departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $145,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $800 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hopedale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,909 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 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 26.3 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 Hopedale. 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.