In 2025, fire departments serving Orange responded to 107 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
595 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 121 | — | |
| 2022 | 134 | +10.7% | |
| 2023 | 122 | -9.0% | |
| 2024 | 111 | -9.0% | |
| 2025 | 107 | -3.6% |
For the 10 building fires Orange departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 100 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 | Undetermined | 23 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 14 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 27.0% |
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 Orange mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 32.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 12 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Orange departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $300 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Orange sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
16 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,254 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 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 4.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 33.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Orange. 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.