In 2025, fire departments serving Orono responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
521 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $361K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 70 | — | |
| 2022 | 73 | +4.3% | |
| 2023 | 150 | +105.5% | |
| 2024 | 136 | -9.3% | |
| 2025 | 92 | -32.4% |
For the 13 building fires Orono departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 28.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Closet | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 10.3% |
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 Orono mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Other static discharge | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Orono departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,200 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Orono sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,218 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 | 44.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 205 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 161 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 156 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 120 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 39.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 100 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 85 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 42.1 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 Maine cities with population within ±25% of Orono. 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.