In 2025, fire departments serving Woods Hole responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
109 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $319K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | -13.0% | |
| 2023 | 22 | +10.0% | |
| 2024 | 22 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 22 | +0.0% |
For the 0 building fires Woods Hole departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Laboratory | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 20.0% |
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 Woods Hole mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Woods Hole departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Woods Hole sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 23 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 466 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 21 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 15 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 14 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 13 | 18.2 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 | 02543 | 109 |
Six Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Woods Hole. 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.