In 2025, fire departments serving Leonardtown responded to 166 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
798 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $5.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 129 | — | |
| 2022 | 197 | +52.7% | |
| 2023 | 134 | -32.0% | |
| 2024 | 172 | +28.4% | |
| 2025 | 166 | -3.5% |
For the 51 building fires Leonardtown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 107 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 | 43 | 40.2% | |
| 2 | Other | 11 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 9 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 15.9% |
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 Leonardtown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 54.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Match | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leonardtown departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $250 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leonardtown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 33,206 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,208 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,238 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,057 | 36.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Leonardtown. 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.