In 2025, fire departments serving Biddeford responded to 375 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 63% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,744 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $6.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 293 | — | |
| 2022 | 316 | +7.8% | |
| 2023 | 351 | +11.1% | |
| 2024 | 409 | +16.5% | |
| 2025 | 375 | -8.3% |
For the 67 building fires Biddeford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 296 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 | 53 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 39 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 33 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 30 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 78 | 26.4% |
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 Biddeford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 104 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 47 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 39 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 13 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 10.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Biddeford departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $43,590 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Biddeford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
14 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,317 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 11.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 0.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 31 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 50.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Biddeford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Biddeford.
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.