In 2025, fire departments serving Mendon responded to 62 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $506K 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 71% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
284 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $912K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48 | — | |
| 2022 | 51 | +6.2% | |
| 2023 | 56 | +9.8% | |
| 2024 | 67 | +19.6% | |
| 2025 | 62 | -7.5% |
For the 23 building fires Mendon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | 9 | 15.0% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 7 | 11.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 15.0% |
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 Mendon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 28.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 18.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mendon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $506,200 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $18,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mendon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,914 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 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 28.3 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 Mendon. 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.