In 2025, fire departments across Massachusetts responded to 62,697 fire and hazmat incidents — including the Mt Tom wildfire that burned 23 acres in 2014.
Massachusetts ranks #58 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 48% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. May peaks across the window; Feb dips.
361,641 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78,388 | |
| 2022 | 71,661 | |
| 2023 | 74,510 | |
| 2024 | 74,385 | |
| 2025 | 62,697 |
For the 4,130 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined / missing | 20,126 | 2,404 / 17,722 | 5,675 | |
| 2 | Equipment & vehicle use | 6,557 | 667 / 5,890 | 452 | |
| 3 | Arson / incendiarism | 3,192 | 359 / 2,833 | 627 | |
| 4 | Debris & open burning | 2,653 | 2,653 / 0 | 1,433 | |
| 5 | Natural (lightning) | 1,940 | 198 / 1,742 | 393 | |
| 6 | Recreation & ceremony | 1,074 | 1,074 / 0 | 847 | |
| 7 | Other causes | 870 | 18 / 852 | 20 | |
| 8 | Smoking | 547 | 547 / 0 | 263 | |
| 9 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 240 | 240 / 0 | 136 | |
| 10 | Power generation / utility | 99 | 99 / 0 | 41 | |
| 11 | Railroad operations | 71 | 71 / 0 | 62 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 41 | 41 / 0 | 53 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 82,993 | $1.1B | 164 | |
| 2 | Gas leaks | 78,102 | $5.7M | 0 | |
| 3 | Electrical / wiring | 75,307 | $1.6M | 0 | |
| 4 | Outdoor fires | 62,800 | $6.0M | 12 | |
| 5 | Cooking-related | 50,643 | $2.4M | 0 | |
| 6 | Wildland fires | 28,747 | $5.2M | 11 | |
| 7 | Rubbish / refuse | 11,855 | $1.5M | 1 | |
| 8 | Vehicle fires | 11,752 | $142.2M | 23 | |
| 9 | Arson | 3,838 | $15.0M | 1 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 12% of Massachusetts's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,000,000 | Boston | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $3,933,754 | HINGHAM | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $3,500,000 | BROOKLINE | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Major |
| 4 | $3,000,000 | MILFORD | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $2,500,000 | LYNN | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $2,000,000 | STOUGHTON | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $2,000,000 | REVERE | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $1,999,999 | SHIRLEY | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $1,700,000 | LINCOLN | Fire, other | Major |
| 10 | $1,700,000 | AMHERST | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Massachusetts apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middlesex County | 10,516 | 1,649,575 |
| 2 | Suffolk County | 5,890 | 785,443 |
| 3 | Worcester County | 4,323 | 882,010 |
| 4 | Norfolk County | 3,848 | 726,830 |
| 5 | Essex County | 3,820 | 806,103 |
| 6 | Plymouth County | 3,599 | 588,328 |
| 7 | Bristol County | 3,144 | 584,681 |
| 8 | Barnstable County | 2,793 | 320,028 |
| 9 | Hampden County | 2,339 | 466,248 |
| 10 | Berkshire County | 1,029 | 130,003 |
Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Franklin County | 13.79 | 853 | 61,857 | |
| 2 | Barnstable County | 8.73 | 2,793 | 320,028 | |
| 3 | Berkshire County | 7.92 | 1,029 | 130,003 | |
| 4 | Suffolk County | 7.50 | 5,890 | 785,443 | |
| 5 | Middlesex County | 6.37 | 10,516 | 1,649,575 | |
| 6 | Plymouth County | 6.12 | 3,599 | 588,328 | |
| 7 | Bristol County | 5.38 | 3,144 | 584,681 | |
| 8 | Norfolk County | 5.29 | 3,848 | 726,830 | |
| 9 | Hampden County | 5.02 | 2,339 | 466,248 | |
| 10 | Worcester County | 4.90 | 4,323 | 882,010 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | 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 |
20 perimeters and 47 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 4 | 29 | |
| 2020s | 16 | 18 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 50 | |
| 2000s | 387 | |
| 2010s | 6,613 | |
| 2020s | 1,321 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 8,371 ignitions total.
3,593 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 81 | |
| 10-19 | 70 | |
| 20-29 | 392 | |
| 30-39 | 890 | |
| 40-49 | 823 | |
| 50-59 | 715 | |
| 60-69 | 258 | |
| 70-79 | 113 | |
| 80+ | 72 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.