In 2025, fire departments serving Palmer responded to 129 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $276K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
227 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $401K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 14 | — | |
| 2022* | 18 | — | |
| 2023 | 38 | — | |
| 2024 | 28 | -26.3% | |
| 2025 | 129 | +360.7% |
* Well below Palmer's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Palmer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Office | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 13.2% |
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 Palmer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Palmer departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $275,800 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $26,081 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $22,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Palmer sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,897 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 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.1 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 Palmer. 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.