In 2025, fire departments serving Greenbelt responded to 141 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
940 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 185 | — | |
| 2022 | 218 | +17.8% | |
| 2023 | 187 | -14.2% | |
| 2024 | 209 | +11.8% | |
| 2025 | 141 | -32.5% |
For the 8 building fires Greenbelt departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 195 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 | 37 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Corridor, mall | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 24.6% |
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 Greenbelt mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 108 | 55.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 16 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Sunlight | 2 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Greenbelt departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $17,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $250 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Greenbelt sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,070 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 39.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 110 | 41.9 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 Greenbelt. 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.