In 2025, fire departments serving Mattawamkeag responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $14K 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 90% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
62 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $142K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | +100.0% | |
| 2023 | 13 | -18.8% | |
| 2024 | 15 | +15.4% | |
| 2025 | 10 | -33.3% |
For the 4 building fires Mattawamkeag departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Separate operator/control area of transportation | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Construction/renovation area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Multiple areas | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Mattawamkeag mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Match | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mattawamkeag departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $14,360 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mattawamkeag sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,610 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Smoking | 236 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 195 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 97 | 8.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 93 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 82 | 9.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 8.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 61 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 60 | 1.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Other causes | 50 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Other causes | 45 | 37.5 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 | 04459 | 62 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Mattawamkeag. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mattawamkeag.
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.