In 2025, fire departments serving Westerly responded to 159 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,021 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 237 | — | |
| 2022 | 202 | -14.8% | |
| 2023 | 254 | +25.7% | |
| 2024 | 169 | -33.5% | |
| 2025 | 159 | -5.9% |
For the 7 building fires Westerly departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 17.5% | |
| 2 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 24.6% |
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 Westerly mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 47.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Westerly departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Westerly sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,416 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 75 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 51 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 26.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | 50 | 18.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 45 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 44 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 40 | 41.3 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 Rhode Island cities with population within ±25% of Westerly. 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.