In 2025, fire departments serving Plaistow responded to 88 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
406 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51 | — | |
| 2022 | 80 | +56.9% | |
| 2023 | 93 | +16.2% | |
| 2024 | 94 | +1.1% | |
| 2025 | 88 | -6.4% |
For the 2 building fires Plaistow departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | 19 | 35.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Sales area, showroom (exclude display window) | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 22.2% |
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 Plaistow mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 14.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Plaistow departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Plaistow sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,081 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 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 36.6 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 New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Plaistow. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Plaistow.
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.