In 2025, fire departments serving Brunswick responded to 176 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $65K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,217 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 226 | — | |
| 2022 | 216 | -4.4% | |
| 2023 | 243 | +12.5% | |
| 2024 | 356 | +46.5% | |
| 2025 | 176 | -50.6% |
For the 20 building fires Brunswick departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 269 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 | 53 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 39 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 31 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 21 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 70 | 26.0% |
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 Brunswick mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 100 | 37.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 43 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 23 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 15 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 15 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brunswick departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $65,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,500 | Flammable gas or liquid condition, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brunswick sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
19 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 7 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,177 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 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 18.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 31 | 13.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Brunswick. 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.