In 2025, fire departments serving Halfway responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
147 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $50K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 32 | +60.0% | |
| 2023 | 38 | +18.8% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -36.8% | |
| 2025 | 33 | +37.5% |
For the 12 building fires Halfway departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Halfway mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 68.8% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Halfway departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Halfway sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,469 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 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 34.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 345 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 300 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 72 | 42.2 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 Halfway. 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.