In 2025, fire departments serving Newmarket responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.2M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
314 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 63 | +26.0% | |
| 2023 | 77 | +22.2% | |
| 2024 | 65 | -15.6% | |
| 2025 | 59 | -9.2% |
For the 8 building fires Newmarket departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 69 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 | 17 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 21.7% |
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 Newmarket mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 7.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 15.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Newmarket departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,222,900 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Newmarket sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,321 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Smoking | 50 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 36.4 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 | 03857 | 314 |
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Newmarket. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Newmarket.
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.