In 2025, fire departments serving Dixmont responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
121 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $394K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +85.0% | |
| 2023 | 28 | -24.3% | |
| 2024 | 20 | -28.6% | |
| 2025 | 16 | -20.0% |
For the 1 building fires Dixmont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Closet | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Dixmont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 6.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dixmont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 861 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 61 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 22.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 42 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 9.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 35 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 34 | 26.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 32 | 41.3 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 Maine cities with population within ±25% of Dixmont. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dixmont.
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.