In 2025, fire departments serving Limerick responded to 54 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
245 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $645K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40 | — | |
| 2022* | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 57 | — | |
| 2024 | 81 | +42.1% | |
| 2025 | 54 | -33.3% |
* Well below Limerick'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 Limerick departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | 16 | 24.2% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 15.2% |
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 Limerick mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 39.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Limerick departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $9 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Limerick sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,033 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 22.4 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 | 04048 | 245 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Limerick. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Limerick.
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.