In 2025, fire departments serving Federalsburg responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 60% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
299 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $993K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40 | — | |
| 2022 | 60 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 66 | +10.0% | |
| 2024 | 75 | +13.6% | |
| 2025 | 58 | -22.7% |
For the 17 building fires Federalsburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 59 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 | 16 | 27.1% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 15.3% |
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 Federalsburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 45.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 16.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Federalsburg departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Federalsburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,156 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,208 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 24.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 29.2 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 | 21632 | 299 |
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Federalsburg. 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.