In 2025, fire departments serving Kennebunkport responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Kennebunkport's departments reported 13 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 65 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 92% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
324 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $34K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | +29.1% | |
| 2023 | 119 | +67.6% | |
| 2024 | 66 | -44.5% | |
| 2025* | 13 | — |
* Well below Kennebunkport'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 8 building fires Kennebunkport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 9.5% |
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 Kennebunkport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kennebunkport departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kennebunkport sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,270 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 4.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 31 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Smoking | 18 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 18 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 17 | 38.6 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 | 04046 | 324 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Kennebunkport. 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.