In 2025, fire departments serving Calais responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $9K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
218 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $416K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | — | |
| 2022 | 42 | +20.0% | |
| 2023 | 42 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 53 | +26.2% | |
| 2025 | 46 | -13.2% |
For the 14 building fires Calais departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 17.2% |
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 Calais mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 41.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Calais departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Calais sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,135 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 770 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 657 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 515 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 495 | 45.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 215 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 206 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 195 | 11.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 177 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 161 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 156 | 37.3 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 | 04619 | 218 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Calais. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Calais.
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.