In 2025, fire departments serving Lee responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
149 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $127K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022* | 3 | — | |
| 2023 | 41 | — | |
| 2024 | 57 | +39.0% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -35.1% |
* Well below Lee'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 5 building fires Lee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | Outside area, other | 24 | 35.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 13.4% |
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 Lee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 35.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lee departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lee sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,154 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 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 154 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 137 | 45.2 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 Lee. 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.