In 2025, fire departments serving Bowie responded to 291 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10.0M 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 68% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,814 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $19.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 326 | — | |
| 2022 | 336 | +3.1% | |
| 2023 | 412 | +22.6% | |
| 2024 | 449 | +9.0% | |
| 2025 | 291 | -35.2% |
For the 25 building fires Bowie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 394 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 | 101 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 75 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 41 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 18 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 16 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 16 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 83 | 21.1% |
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 Bowie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 254 | 64.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 34 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 22 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 15 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 6 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Candle | 5 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bowie departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | Fire, other | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $93,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $70,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bowie sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,669 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 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 5.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 370 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 370 | 50.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 360 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 306 | 48.6 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 Bowie. 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.