In 2025, fire departments serving Saugus responded to 262 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $800K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,383 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.8M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 262 | — | |
| 2022 | 227 | -13.4% | |
| 2023 | 307 | +35.2% | |
| 2024 | 325 | +5.9% | |
| 2025 | 262 | -19.4% |
For the 10 building fires Saugus departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 233 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 | 41 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 36 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 27 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 18.9% |
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 Saugus mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 131 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 19 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 14 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 3 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Saugus departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Saugus sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
27 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 10 | |
| 40-49 | 9 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,655 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 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 4.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 40.9 mi |
Top 7 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 Saugus. 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.