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2025 County Report

Fires in Plymouth County, MA

In 2025, fire departments serving Plymouth County responded to 3,599 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $3.9M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

588,328 residents FIPS 25023 237 cities · 29 fire depts
Total incidents
3,599
22,482 across 5 years
Building fires
240
354 wildland
Property loss
$25.7M
$17.4M structure · $8.3M contents
Casualties
2 / 38
2 civ deaths · 20 civ inj · 18 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

3,599
Total Incidents
Power line down 464 12.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 455 12.6%
Unauthorized burning 329 9.1%
Cooking fire, confined to container 292 8.1%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 287 8.0%
All other categories 1,772 49.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Plymouth County?

Jul peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 380
Feb 305
Mar 439
Apr 362
May 334
Jun 320
Jul 442
Aug 308
Sep 208
Oct 224
Nov 156
Dec 121
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Plymouth County

22,482 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 5,596
2022 3,930
2023 4,777
2024 4,580
2025 3,599
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 240 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
378
Cause undetermined
34%
271
Intentional / arson
2%
18
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
58
Under investigation
4%
34
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
16
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $9.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Plymouth County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 57% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $3,933,754 HINGHAM Building fires Major
2 $1,050,000 PLYMOUTH Building fires Major
3 $1,000,000 Marshfield Building fires Major
4 $1,000,000 PLYMOUTH Building fires Major
5 $600,000 Brockton Building fires Major
6 $550,000 Wareham Building fires Major
7 $500,000 Bridgewater Building fires Major
8 $450,000 Brockton Building fires Major
9 $400,000 BROCKTON Building fires Major
10 $396,000 PLYMOUTH Building fires Major
06 How Plymouth County compares

Plymouth County vs MA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.12
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Plymouth County
6.12
MA avg
8.76
US avg
7.15
0.41
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Plymouth County
0.41
MA avg
0.58
US avg
0.82
3.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Plymouth County
3.4
MA avg
2.8
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Plymouth County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 25023.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Plymouth County

29 departments report from this county.

BROCKTON
—
FDID 23044 861 incidents
PLYMOUTH
—
FDID 23239 699 incidents
WAREHAM
—
FDID 23992 348 incidents
MARSHFIELD
—
FDID 23171 279 incidents
ROCKLAND
—
FDID 23251 223 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.