In 2025, fire departments serving West Boylston responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
326 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +17.5% | |
| 2023 | 59 | -20.3% | |
| 2024 | 64 | +8.5% | |
| 2025 | 66 | +3.1% |
For the 12 building fires West Boylston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 21.7% |
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 West Boylston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 30.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Boylston departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Boylston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,298 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 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 11.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 48.2 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 West Boylston. 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.