In 2025, fire departments serving Boothbay responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
153 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 32 | +14.3% | |
| 2023* | 12 | — | |
| 2024 | 48 | — | |
| 2025 | 33 | -31.2% |
* Well below Boothbay's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Boothbay departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 8 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Boothbay mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 1 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Boothbay sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 870 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 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 31 | 31.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 18 | 49.5 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 Boothbay. 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.