In 2025, fire departments serving Newbury responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
347 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $636K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | -7.1% | |
| 2023 | 82 | +57.7% | |
| 2024 | 90 | +9.8% | |
| 2025 | 67 | -25.6% |
For the 5 building fires Newbury departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 91 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 | 40 | 44.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 9.9% |
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 Newbury mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 22 | 24.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 22 | 24.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 18 | 19.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 11.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Newbury sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,987 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 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 48.3 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 Newbury. 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.