In 2025, fire departments serving Shrewsbury responded to 293 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 66% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,428 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 350 | — | |
| 2022 | 277 | -20.9% | |
| 2023 | 262 | -5.4% | |
| 2024 | 246 | -6.1% | |
| 2025 | 293 | +19.1% |
For the 17 building fires Shrewsbury departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 162 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 | 58 | 35.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 45 | 27.8% |
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 Shrewsbury mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 75 | 46.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shrewsbury departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 67% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $6,400 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shrewsbury sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,149 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 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 42.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Shrewsbury. 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.