In 2025, fire departments serving Caribou responded to 71 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 56% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
354 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 69 | +38.0% | |
| 2023 | 85 | +23.2% | |
| 2024 | 79 | -7.1% | |
| 2025 | 71 | -10.1% |
For the 17 building fires Caribou departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 74 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 | 24 | 32.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Office | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Vacant structural area | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 17.6% |
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 Caribou mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 40.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 14 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Caribou departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Caribou sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,481 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 129 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 110 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 92 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 9.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 75 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65 | 36.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65 | 21.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 59 | 11.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 56 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 52 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 35.9 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 | 04736 | 354 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Caribou. 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.