In 2025, fire departments serving Capitol Heights responded to 211 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,536 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $8.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 305 | — | |
| 2022 | 321 | +5.2% | |
| 2023 | 330 | +2.8% | |
| 2024 | 369 | +11.8% | |
| 2025 | 211 | -42.8% |
For the 9 building fires Capitol Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 383 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 | 118 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 62 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 22 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 17 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 13 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 10 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 78 | 20.4% |
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 Capitol Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 272 | 71.0% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 21 | 5.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 18 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 14 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Candle | 3 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Capitol Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 77% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $24,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Capitol Heights sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,196 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 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 370 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 33.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 39.1 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 Capitol Heights. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Capitol Heights.
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.