In 2025, fire departments serving Bowdoinham responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $9K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
270 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $940K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | -21.8% | |
| 2023 | 69 | +60.5% | |
| 2024 | 67 | -2.9% | |
| 2025 | 36 | -46.3% |
For the 1 building fires Bowdoinham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 45.2% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 9.7% |
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 Bowdoinham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 45.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 3.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bowdoinham departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bowdoinham sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 918 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 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 31 | 20.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 14.6 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 Bowdoinham. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bowdoinham.
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.