In 2025, fire departments serving Bethesda responded to 359 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 71% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,829 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 360 | — | |
| 2022 | 372 | +3.3% | |
| 2023 | 371 | -0.3% | |
| 2024 | 367 | -1.1% | |
| 2025 | 359 | -2.2% |
For the 6 building fires Bethesda departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 300 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 71 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 59 | 19.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 27 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 25 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 12 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 11 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 64 | 21.3% |
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 Bethesda mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 100 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 38 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 22 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 21 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bethesda departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bethesda sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,922 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 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 31.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 43.2 mi |
Top 10 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 Bethesda. 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.