In 2025, fire departments serving Southbridge responded to 229 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,097 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 201 | — | |
| 2022 | 165 | -17.9% | |
| 2023 | 236 | +43.0% | |
| 2024 | 266 | +12.7% | |
| 2025 | 229 | -13.9% |
For the 13 building fires Southbridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 173 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 | 39 | 22.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 10 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 25.4% |
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 Southbridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 32.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 9.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 14 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 10 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 15.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Southbridge departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $85,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Southbridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
13 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 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,703 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 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 38.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Southbridge. 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.