In 2025, fire departments serving North Massapequa responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. 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 85% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
361 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $500K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64 | — | |
| 2022 | 77 | +20.3% | |
| 2023 | 79 | +2.6% | |
| 2024 | 83 | +5.1% | |
| 2025 | 58 | -30.1% |
For the 3 building fires North Massapequa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Closet | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 11.1% |
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 North Massapequa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 1 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North Massapequa departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Massapequa sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,740 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,050 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 230 | 47.3 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 New York cities with population within ±25% of North Massapequa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in North Massapequa.
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.