In 2025, fire departments serving Lexington Park responded to 226 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 71% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,365 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $825K cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 299 | — | |
| 2022 | 278 | -7.0% | |
| 2023 | 287 | +3.2% | |
| 2024 | 275 | -4.2% | |
| 2025 | 226 | -17.8% |
For the 46 building fires Lexington Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 286 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 | Outside area, other | 62 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 62 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 31 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 22 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 55 | 19.2% |
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 Lexington Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 170 | 59.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lexington Park departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lexington Park sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 33,905 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 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,348 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,238 | 30.7 mi |
Top 6 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 Lexington Park. 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.