In 2025, fire departments serving New Windsor responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 64% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
394 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $561K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | +5.1% | |
| 2023 | 93 | +12.0% | |
| 2024 | 70 | -24.7% | |
| 2025 | 69 | -1.4% |
For the 13 building fires New Windsor departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 87 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 | 16 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 9.2% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 7 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 19.5% |
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 Windsor mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Match | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Windsor departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Windsor sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,796 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 30.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 47.9 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 | 21776 | 392 |
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of New Windsor. 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.