In 2025, fire departments serving Tewksbury responded to 127 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K 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 52% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
878 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 164 | — | |
| 2022 | 191 | +16.5% | |
| 2023 | 195 | +2.1% | |
| 2024 | 201 | +3.1% | |
| 2025 | 127 | -36.8% |
For the 4 building fires Tewksbury departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 274 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 | 62 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 45 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 27 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 24 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 22 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 37 | 13.5% |
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 Tewksbury mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 120 | 43.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 33 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 17 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Tewksbury departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tewksbury sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,679 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 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 24.0 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 Tewksbury. 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.