In 2025, fire departments serving Bridgton responded to 123 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 79% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
222 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 20 | — | |
| 2023* | 17 | — | |
| 2024 | 58 | — | |
| 2025 | 123 | +112.1% |
* Well below Bridgton'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 15 building fires Bridgton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | Outside area, other | 9 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 7.1% |
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 Bridgton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 60.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bridgton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,021 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 23.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 64 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 22.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 04009 | 222 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Bridgton. 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.