In 2025, fire departments serving Salem responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 56% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
106 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $526K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | -3.6% | |
| 2023 | 23 | -14.8% | |
| 2024* | 3 | — | |
| 2025 | 25 | — |
* Well below Salem'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 4 building fires Salem departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Outside area, other | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Structural area, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Salem mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Salem departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Salem sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,522 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 31.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 190 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 20.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 8.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 75 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 28.8 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 New York cities with population within ±25% of Salem. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Salem.
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.