In 2025, fire departments serving Beltsville responded to 140 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
995 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $7.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 222 | — | |
| 2022 | 205 | -7.7% | |
| 2023 | 207 | +1.0% | |
| 2024 | 221 | +6.8% | |
| 2025 | 140 | -36.7% |
For the 8 building fires Beltsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 178 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 | 52 | 29.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 45 | 25.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 18.0% |
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 Beltsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 107 | 60.1% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 9 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Beltsville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Beltsville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,399 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 28.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 42.2 mi |
Top 8 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Beltsville. 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.