In 2025, fire departments serving West Dennis responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. West Dennis's departments reported 24 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 41 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
205 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $999K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | -23.1% | |
| 2023 | 50 | +25.0% | |
| 2024 | 39 | -22.0% | |
| 2025* | 24 | — |
* Well below West Dennis's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 0 building fires West Dennis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | Undetermined | 6 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 18.5% |
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 West Dennis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 63.0% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Dennis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 12 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 321 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 11 | 9.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 | 12.9 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 Dennis. 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.