In 2025, fire departments serving West Bridgewater responded to 139 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $114K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
619 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 154 | — | |
| 2022 | 86 | -44.2% | |
| 2023 | 112 | +30.2% | |
| 2024 | 128 | +14.3% | |
| 2025 | 139 | +8.6% |
For the 0 building fires West Bridgewater departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 148 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 | 33 | 22.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 18 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 13 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 20.9% |
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 West Bridgewater mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 73 | 49.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 10.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Bridgewater departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $114,363 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Bridgewater sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,803 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 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 44.7 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 West Bridgewater. 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.