In 2025, fire departments serving Kittery responded to 111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Biological hazard, confirmed or suspected lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
325 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | -4.6% | |
| 2023* | 21 | — | |
| 2024* | 23 | — | |
| 2025 | 111 | — |
* Well below Kittery'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 Kittery departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | 10 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 1 | 3.8% |
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 Kittery mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Match | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kittery departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kittery sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,521 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 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Smoking | 50 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 19.7 mi |
Top 3 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 Kittery. 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.