In 2025, fire departments serving Middlesex County responded to 10,516 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $2.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips.
55,269 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11,035 | |
| 2022 | 11,002 | |
| 2023 | 11,070 | |
| 2024 | 11,646 | |
| 2025 | 10,516 |
For the 464 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Middlesex County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 46% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,999,999 | SHIRLEY | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $1,700,000 | LINCOLN | Fire, other | Major |
| 3 | $1,200,000 | GROTON | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $1,200,000 | READING | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $1,000,000 | ARLINGTON | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $1,000,000 | Hopkinton | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $700,000 | SHIRLEY | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $600,000 | GROTON | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $522,752 | CONCORD | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $500,000 | TOWNSEND | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 25017.
56 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.