In 2025, fire departments serving Southwick responded to 97 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $32K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
528 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 120 | — | |
| 2022 | 118 | -1.7% | |
| 2023 | 96 | -18.6% | |
| 2024 | 97 | +1.0% | |
| 2025 | 97 | +0.0% |
For the 4 building fires Southwick departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 163 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 | 55 | 33.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 12.9% |
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 Southwick mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 35.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 9 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 16.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Southwick departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $31,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Southwick sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,907 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 9.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 20.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 30.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 30.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 21.9 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 | 01077 | 528 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Southwick. 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.