In 2025, fire departments serving Leicester responded to 120 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
442 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | — | |
| 2022 | 58 | -28.4% | |
| 2023 | 67 | +15.5% | |
| 2024 | 116 | +73.1% | |
| 2025 | 120 | +3.4% |
For the 20 building fires Leicester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | 13 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 31.6% |
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 Leicester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 40.4% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leicester departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leicester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,219 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 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 22.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Leicester. 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.