In 2025, fire departments serving Sandwich responded to 155 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 46% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
680 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 133 | — | |
| 2022 | 127 | -4.5% | |
| 2023 | 114 | -10.2% | |
| 2024 | 151 | +32.5% | |
| 2025 | 155 | +2.6% |
For the 15 building fires Sandwich departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 56 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 | 12 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 35.7% |
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 Sandwich mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 6 | 10.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sandwich departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sandwich sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 24 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 488 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 2.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 26 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 16 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 1.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 14 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 5.7 mi |
Top 8 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 Sandwich. 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.