In 2025, fire departments serving Cresaptown responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
364 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | — | |
| 2022 | 85 | +84.8% | |
| 2023 | 100 | +17.6% | |
| 2024 | 77 | -23.0% | |
| 2025 | 56 | -27.3% |
For the 4 building fires Cresaptown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Cresaptown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 7.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cresaptown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,494 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 888 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 755 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 755 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 610 | 36.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 546 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 480 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 467 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 315 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 230 | 46.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Cresaptown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cresaptown.
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.