In 2025, fire departments serving Somersworth responded to 159 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
939 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $60K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 140 | — | |
| 2022 | 186 | +32.9% | |
| 2023 | 234 | +25.8% | |
| 2024 | 220 | -6.0% | |
| 2025 | 159 | -27.7% |
For the 14 building fires Somersworth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 146 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 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 24 | 16.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 10 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 24.7% |
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 Somersworth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 70 | 47.9% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 15 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Somersworth departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Somersworth sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,668 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 25.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03878 | 939 |
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Somersworth. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Somersworth.
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.