In 2025, fire departments serving Longmeadow responded to 98 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
530 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $28.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65 | — | |
| 2022 | 112 | +72.3% | |
| 2023 | 131 | +17.0% | |
| 2024 | 124 | -5.3% | |
| 2025 | 98 | -21.0% |
For the 2 building fires Longmeadow departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 34.5% |
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 Longmeadow mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Longmeadow departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Longmeadow sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,886 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 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 17.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 137 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 48.8 mi |
Top 4 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 Longmeadow. 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.