In 2025, fire departments serving Lonaconing responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 93% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
241 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $275K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 58 | — | |
| 2023 | 57 | -1.7% | |
| 2024 | 46 | -19.3% | |
| 2025 | 56 | +21.7% |
* Well below Lonaconing'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 20 building fires Lonaconing departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 2 | Wall assembly | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Office | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 26.3% |
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 Lonaconing mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Match | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lonaconing departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lonaconing sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,714 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 2,743 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 888 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 755 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 755 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 610 | 37.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 546 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 480 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 467 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 428 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 315 | 40.7 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 Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Lonaconing. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lonaconing.
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.