In 2025, fire departments serving Crofton responded to 82 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 59% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
299 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $346K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022* | 35 | — | |
| 2023 | 77 | — | |
| 2024 | 93 | +20.8% | |
| 2025 | 82 | -11.8% |
* Well below Crofton'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 4 building fires Crofton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 10 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Light shaft | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 18.8% |
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 Crofton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Crofton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Crofton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,513 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 2.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 370 | 47.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 360 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 306 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 50.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 50.0 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 Crofton. 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.