In 2025, fire departments serving Old Town responded to 82 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
555 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $224K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 91 | — | |
| 2022 | 99 | +8.8% | |
| 2023 | 172 | +73.7% | |
| 2024 | 111 | -35.5% | |
| 2025 | 82 | -26.1% |
For the 10 building fires Old Town departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 40 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 | 10 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Conveyor | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 20.0% |
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 Old Town mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 22.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 15.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Old Town sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,042 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 215 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 161 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 156 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 100 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 85 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 43.8 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Old Town. 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.