In 2025, fire departments serving Hudson responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
103 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $40K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 19 | — | |
| 2024 | 48 | +152.6% | |
| 2025 | 16 | -66.7% |
* Well below Hudson's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Hudson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 14.3% |
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 Hudson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 3 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 14.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hudson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,395 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 161 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 100 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 67 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 61 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 60 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Other causes | 50 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 46.5 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Hudson. 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.