In 2025, fire departments serving Edgewood responded to 226 fire and hazmat incidents . 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.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,125 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $480K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 221 | — | |
| 2022 | 194 | -12.2% | |
| 2023 | 233 | +20.1% | |
| 2024 | 251 | +7.7% | |
| 2025 | 226 | -10.0% |
For the 57 building fires Edgewood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 149 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 | 40 | 26.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 13 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 21.5% |
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 Edgewood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 92 | 61.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Candle | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 8.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Edgewood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,577 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 40.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 101 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 95 | 47.0 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 | 21040 | 1,125 |
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Edgewood. 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.