In 2025, fire departments serving Russell responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
110 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $555K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | -14.3% | |
| 2023 | 19 | -20.8% | |
| 2024* | 11 | — | |
| 2025 | 28 | — |
* Well below Russell'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 5 building fires Russell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 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 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 16.1% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 25.8% |
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 Russell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 8 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 3.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Russell departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Russell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,877 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 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 2.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 18.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 35.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 35.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 27.7 mi |
Top 3 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 Russell. 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.