In 2025, fire departments serving Norton responded to 161 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $22K 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 59% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,044 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 233 | — | |
| 2022 | 208 | -10.7% | |
| 2023 | 237 | +13.9% | |
| 2024 | 205 | -13.5% | |
| 2025 | 161 | -21.5% |
For the 4 building fires Norton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 163 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 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 25 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 14.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 13.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 15 | 9.2% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 16.6% |
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 Norton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 59 | 36.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 12.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Norton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $21,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Norton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,819 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 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 42.5 mi |
Top 6 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 Norton. 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.