In 2025, fire departments serving Whitman responded to 160 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $584K 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 62% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
771 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 191 | — | |
| 2022 | 138 | -27.7% | |
| 2023 | 137 | -0.7% | |
| 2024 | 145 | +5.8% | |
| 2025 | 160 | +10.3% |
For the 22 building fires Whitman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 98 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 | 22 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 11 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 9 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 22.4% |
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 Whitman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 37.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 14 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 9 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Whitman departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $584,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Whitman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,789 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 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 45.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 02382 | 771 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Whitman. 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.