In 2025, fire departments serving Winchendon responded to 97 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
600 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 123 | — | |
| 2022 | 116 | -5.7% | |
| 2023 | 120 | +3.4% | |
| 2024 | 144 | +20.0% | |
| 2025 | 97 | -32.6% |
For the 12 building fires Winchendon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | 13 | 17.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 23.3% |
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 Winchendon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 41.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 13 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 8.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winchendon sits above 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,719 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 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 24.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Winchendon. 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.