In 2025, fire departments serving South Dennis responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $160K 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 51% of all calls.
May peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
419 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 98 | — | |
| 2022 | 80 | -18.4% | |
| 2023 | 77 | -3.8% | |
| 2024 | 87 | +13.0% | |
| 2025 | 77 | -11.5% |
For the 9 building fires South Dennis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 18 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 23.9% |
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 South Dennis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 31.3% | |
| 2 | Chemical reaction | 8 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Candle | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Dennis departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Dennis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 12 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 321 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 11 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 | 10.7 mi |
Top 3 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 South Dennis. 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.