In 2025, fire departments serving Lakeville responded to 106 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $375K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
547 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 147 | — | |
| 2022 | 88 | -40.1% | |
| 2023 | 88 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 118 | +34.1% | |
| 2025 | 106 | -10.2% |
For the 13 building fires Lakeville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 97 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 | 22 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 14 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 5 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 23.7% |
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 Lakeville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 28.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 8 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lakeville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $375,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lakeville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,187 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 3.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Smoking | 50 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 40 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 32 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 30 | 47.3 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 Lakeville. 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.