In 2025, fire departments serving Baltimore responded to 71 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
391 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 80 | +29.0% | |
| 2023 | 95 | +18.8% | |
| 2024 | 83 | -12.6% | |
| 2025 | 71 | -14.5% |
For the 27 building fires Baltimore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 74 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 | Undetermined | 14 | 18.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 20.3% |
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 Baltimore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 40.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Baltimore departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $6,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Baltimore sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,791 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 9.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 46 | 41.3 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 | 43105 | 391 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Baltimore. 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.