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2025 County Report

Fires in Barnstable County, MA

In 2025, fire departments serving Barnstable County responded to 2,793 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

320,028 residents FIPS 25001 145 cities · 20 fire depts
Total incidents
2,793
16,174 across 5 years
Building fires
223
315 wildland
Property loss
$12.3M
$9.0M structure · $3.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 84
0 civ deaths · 15 civ inj · 69 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.

2,793
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 386 13.8%
Unauthorized burning 260 9.3%
Building fires 223 8.0%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 218 7.8%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 216 7.7%
All other categories 1,490 53.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Barnstable County?

Jun peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 234
Feb 177
Mar 229
Apr 279
May 358
Jun 361
Jul 305
Aug 217
Sep 147
Oct 166
Nov 151
Dec 169
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Barnstable County

16,174 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 3,634
2022 3,458
2023 2,955
2024 3,334
2025 2,793
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 223 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
55%
212
Cause undetermined
17%
66
Intentional / arson
4%
16
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
36
Under investigation
7%
28
Act of nature (lightning)
8%
12
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $4.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Barnstable County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 47% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Falmouth Building fires Major
2 $579,000 HYANNIS Water vehicle fire Major
3 $549,000 HYANNIS Water vehicle fire Major
4 $350,000 HYANNIS Building fires Major
5 $350,000 HYANNIS Building fires Major
6 $325,000 Dennisport Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Major
7 $317,200 East Falmouth Building fires Major
8 $296,100 Cotuit Building fires Major
9 $250,000 South Yarmouth Building fires Major
10 $250,000 YARMOUTH Building fires Major
06 How Barnstable County compares

Barnstable County vs MA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.73
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Barnstable County
8.73
MA avg
8.76
US avg
7.15
0.7
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Barnstable County
0.7
MA avg
0.58
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Barnstable County
0
MA avg
2.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Barnstable County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 25001.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Barnstable County

20 departments report from this county.

FALMOUTH
—
FDID 01096 406 incidents
HYANNIS
—
FDID 01922 316 incidents
HARWICH
—
FDID 01126 254 incidents
CTRVLOSTERVLMARSTON MLS
—
FDID 01920 250 incidents
DENNIS
—
FDID 01075 240 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Mt Tom 2014 FWS 23
2 Highlands Wildfire 2013 NPS 6
3 20217SPB Plot 9 2021 NPS 2
4 0021720210525 SPB Plot 203 2021 NPS 2
5 20210707SPB15_14Rx 2021 NPS 2
6 SPB Plot #10 2021 NPS 1
7 00217420210527 SPB Plot 19 Rx 2021 NPS 1
8 PTownPearsols_CPB_2021 2021 NPS 1
9 Pilgrim Springs_CPB_20210204 2021 NPS 1
10 Highland Center_CPB_20210406 2021 NPS 1

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.