In 2025, fire departments serving Hyattsville responded to 566 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,275 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $13.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 884 | — | |
| 2022 | 931 | +5.3% | |
| 2023 | 959 | +3.0% | |
| 2024 | 935 | -2.5% | |
| 2025 | 566 | -39.5% |
For the 48 building fires Hyattsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 879 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 | 305 | 34.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 106 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 66 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 49 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 37 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 33 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 29 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 25 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Corridor, mall | 21 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 18 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 190 | 21.6% |
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 Hyattsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 593 | 67.5% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 52 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 49 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 40 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 36 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 22 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Candle | 11 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 47 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hyattsville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 62% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hyattsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,534 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 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 29.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 37.7 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 Hyattsville. 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.