In 2025, fire departments serving Randolph responded to 492 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,355 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $10.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 455 | — | |
| 2022 | 455 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 444 | -2.4% | |
| 2024 | 509 | +14.6% | |
| 2025 | 492 | -3.3% |
For the 14 building fires Randolph departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,058 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 591 | 55.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 141 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 56 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 38 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 25 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 21 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 18 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 16 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 13 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 125 | 11.8% |
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 Randolph mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 260 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 151 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 131 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 94 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 93 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 82 | 7.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 50 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 37 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 30 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 23 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 107 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Randolph departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $11,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Randolph sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,790 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 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 9.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 36.9 mi |
Top 2 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 Randolph. 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.