In 2025, fire departments serving Frederick responded to 912 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,265 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $18.8M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 695 | — | |
| 2022 | 825 | +18.7% | |
| 2023 | 922 | +11.8% | |
| 2024 | 911 | -1.2% | |
| 2025 | 912 | +0.1% |
For the 38 building fires Frederick departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 671 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 166 | 24.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 137 | 20.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 46 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 35 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 21 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 20 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 17 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 17 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 13 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 12 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 187 | 27.9% |
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 Frederick mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 281 | 41.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 97 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 56 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 49 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 39 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 23 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 22 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 14 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 12 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 60 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Frederick departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 75% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $70,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Frederick sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
36 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 8 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,350 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 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 21.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 31.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 34.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 91 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 63 | 47.3 mi |
Top 10 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 Frederick. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Frederick.
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.