In 2025, fire departments serving Bath responded to 97 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
595 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $21K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87 | — | |
| 2022 | 149 | +71.3% | |
| 2023 | 110 | -26.2% | |
| 2024 | 152 | +38.2% | |
| 2025 | 97 | -36.2% |
For the 2 building fires Bath departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 168 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 | Outside area, other | 47 | 28.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 16 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 54 | 32.1% |
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 Bath mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 23 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 12 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 11 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bath sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 850 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 31 | 20.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 43.9 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Bath. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bath.
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.