In 2025, fire departments serving Frostburg responded to 275 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 69% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,333 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.0M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 200 | — | |
| 2022 | 279 | +39.5% | |
| 2023 | 277 | -0.7% | |
| 2024 | 302 | +9.0% | |
| 2025 | 275 | -8.9% |
For the 82 building fires Frostburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 74 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 | 18 | 24.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 15 | 20.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Corridor, mall | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 24.3% |
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 Frostburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 58.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Match | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Frostburg departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Frostburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,184 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 888 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 755 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 610 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 480 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 467 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 315 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 140 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 115 | 28.3 mi |
Top 5 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 Frostburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Frostburg.
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.