In 2025, fire departments serving Hopkinton responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
62 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 18 | — | |
| 2024 | 9 | -50.0% | |
| 2025 | 21 | +133.3% |
* Well below Hopkinton'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 3 building fires Hopkinton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | Undetermined | 7 | 25.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 7.4% |
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 Hopkinton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hopkinton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $7,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hopkinton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,630 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 120 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 43.4 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 | 52237 | 62 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Hopkinton. 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.