In 2025, fire departments serving Leominster responded to 477 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,486 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.5M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 511 | — | |
| 2022 | 415 | -18.8% | |
| 2023 | 611 | +47.2% | |
| 2024 | 472 | -22.7% | |
| 2025 | 477 | +1.1% |
For the 47 building fires Leominster departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 367 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 | 61 | 16.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 48 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 37 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 29 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 18 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 101 | 27.5% |
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 Leominster mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 143 | 39.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 41 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 34 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 24 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 21 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 55 | 15.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leominster sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
45 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 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 14 | |
| 50-59 | 7 | |
| 60-69 | 7 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,265 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 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 6.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 42.1 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 Leominster. 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.