In 2025, fire departments serving Northampton responded to 185 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. 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 54% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,051 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 233 | — | |
| 2022 | 182 | -21.9% | |
| 2023 | 224 | +23.1% | |
| 2024 | 227 | +1.3% | |
| 2025 | 185 | -18.5% |
For the 12 building fires Northampton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 132 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 | 28 | 21.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 34.8% |
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 Northampton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 41 | 31.1% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 14 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 11 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Northampton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Northampton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,976 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 6.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 137 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 110 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 47.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Northampton. 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.