In 2025, fire departments serving New Sharon responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 59% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
227 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $104K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | — | |
| 2023 | 78 | +100.0% | |
| 2024 | 59 | -24.4% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -28.8% |
* Well below New Sharon'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 8 building fires New Sharon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Assembly area without fixed seats - 100+ persons | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 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 New Sharon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Other static discharge | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Sharon departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Sharon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 821 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 64 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 43 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 17.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 36.3 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 | 04955 | 227 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of New Sharon. 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.