In 2025, fire departments serving Laurel responded to 395 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10.0M 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,417 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $25.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 458 | — | |
| 2022 | 453 | -1.1% | |
| 2023 | 515 | +13.7% | |
| 2024 | 596 | +15.7% | |
| 2025 | 395 | -33.7% |
For the 42 building fires Laurel departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 443 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 | 89 | 20.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 80 | 18.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 36 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 31 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 29 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 18 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 15 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 12 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 11 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 112 | 25.3% |
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 Laurel mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 270 | 60.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 28 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 28 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 26 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 21 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 7 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Laurel departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $400,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laurel sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,031 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 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 110 | 48.9 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 Laurel. 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.