In 2025, fire departments serving Marblehead responded to 160 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 68% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
723 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 156 | — | |
| 2022 | 117 | -25.0% | |
| 2023 | 159 | +35.9% | |
| 2024 | 131 | -17.6% | |
| 2025 | 160 | +22.1% |
For the 3 building fires Marblehead departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 117 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 | 20.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 29.9% |
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 Marblehead mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 16 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Chemical reaction | 12 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 13.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Marblehead departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $700 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Marblehead sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,653 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 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 4.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 42.9 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01945 | 723 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Marblehead. 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.