In 2025, fire departments serving Carmel responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $186K 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.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
298 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $451K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 47 | — | |
| 2022* | 29 | — | |
| 2023 | 108 | — | |
| 2024 | 69 | -36.1% | |
| 2025 | 45 | -34.8% |
* Well below Carmel'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 14 building fires Carmel departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 24.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 12.1% |
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 Carmel mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Carmel departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $186,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Carmel sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,075 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 100 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 61 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Other causes | 50 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 30.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 42 | 33.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 16.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 35 | 21.9 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 Carmel. 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.