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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Etna, Maine

In 2025, fire departments serving Etna responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C+ Peak yr 2023 Penobscot County 1,200 residents 1 reporting departments 112 5-yr
Total incidents
24
-20.0% vs 2024
Building fires
5
Residential 60% Other 40%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.

24
Total Incidents
Building fires 5 20.8%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 5 20.8%
Biological hazard, confirmed or suspected 4 16.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 3 12.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 3 12.5%
All other categories 4 16.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 0
Feb 5
Mar 2
Apr 3
May 3
Jun 0
Jul 4
Aug 4
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 3
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Etna

112 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 17 —
2022* 10 —
2023 31 —
2024 30 -3.2%
2025 24 -20.0%

* Well below Etna'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 5 building fires Etna departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
100%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Etna?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 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 originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 5 50.0%
2 Cooking area, kitchen 1 10.0%
3 Vehicle storage area; garage, carport 1 10.0%
4 Conveyor 1 10.0%
5 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 1 10.0%
6 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 1 10.0%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Etna mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 6 60.0%
2 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 2 20.0%
3 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 10.0%
4 Flame/torch used for lighting 1 10.0%
05 How Etna compares

Etna vs Maine vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Etna sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

20
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Etna
20
ME avg
10.96
US avg
7.48
4.17
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Etna
4.17
ME avg
1.72
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Etna
0
ME avg
3.6
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Etna

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 891 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2001 Debris and open burning 77 29.9 mi
2016 Debris and open burning 61 32.8 mi
2002 Recreation and ceremony 57 42.5 mi
1992 Debris and open burning 50 24.4 mi
2015 Other causes 50 45.8 mi
2015 Debris and open burning 48 28.8 mi
1992 Debris and open burning 42 39.0 mi
1995 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 40 11.4 mi
1997 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 40 23.9 mi
2016 Misuse of fire by a minor 35 21.7 mi
2006 Debris and open burning 34 20.4 mi
1999 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 33 39.9 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Etna do fires concentrate?

Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 04434 112
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Etna

Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Etna. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Etna?

1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Etna.

Etna Fire Department
Shadow LN
FDID J3612
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.