In 2025, fire departments serving Ware responded to 137 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 49% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
609 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $637K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 111 | — | |
| 2022 | 108 | -2.7% | |
| 2023 | 107 | -0.9% | |
| 2024 | 146 | +36.4% | |
| 2025 | 137 | -6.2% |
For the 24 building fires Ware departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 151 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 | 27 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Other | 16 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 31.1% |
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 Ware mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 21.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 16.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 9 | 6.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Match | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 14.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ware departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ware sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,527 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 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 110 | 49.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Ware. 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.