In 2025, fire departments serving Mattapoisett responded to 54 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
445 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $300K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 154 | — | |
| 2022* | 48 | — | |
| 2023 | 89 | — | |
| 2024 | 100 | +12.4% | |
| 2025 | 54 | -46.0% |
* Well below Mattapoisett'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 0 building fires Mattapoisett departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 20.6% |
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 Mattapoisett mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mattapoisett sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 862 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 26 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 16 | 41.5 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 Mattapoisett. 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.