In 2025, fire departments serving Havre de Grace responded to 218 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 55% of all calls.
Jul peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
950 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 184 | — | |
| 2022 | 191 | +3.8% | |
| 2023 | 157 | -17.8% | |
| 2024 | 200 | +27.4% | |
| 2025 | 218 | +9.0% |
For the 23 building fires Havre de Grace departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 135 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 | 27.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 11 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 21.5% |
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 Havre de Grace mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 67 | 49.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 7.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Havre de Grace sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,201 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 470 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 273 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 42.6 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 | 21078 | 950 |
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Havre de Grace. 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.