In 2025, fire departments serving Wilmington responded to 80 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $225K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
538 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 111 | — | |
| 2022 | 113 | +1.8% | |
| 2023 | 101 | -10.6% | |
| 2024 | 133 | +31.7% | |
| 2025 | 80 | -39.8% |
For the 0 building fires Wilmington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 194 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 | 57 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 37 | 19.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 14.4% |
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 Wilmington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 111 | 57.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 21 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 9 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Match | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 5.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wilmington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $225,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wilmington sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,655 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 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 48.6 mi |
Top 7 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 Wilmington. 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.