In 2025, fire departments serving Fairplay responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
250 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $139K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | — | |
| 2023 | 54 | +25.6% | |
| 2024 | 38 | -29.6% | |
| 2025 | 86 | +126.3% |
* Well below Fairplay'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 20 building fires Fairplay departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | Other | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 10.3% |
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 Fairplay mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fairplay departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fairplay sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,209 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 37.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 29.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 345 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 72 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 70 | 47.6 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 Fairplay. 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.