In 2025, fire departments serving Owings responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
220 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $301K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | +75.0% | |
| 2023 | 33 | -41.1% | |
| 2024 | 48 | +45.5% | |
| 2025 | 51 | +6.2% |
For the 3 building fires Owings departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 69 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 | 55 | 79.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 1.4% |
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 Owings mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 63 | 91.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 5 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Owings departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Owings sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 32,976 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,208 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,238 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,057 | 39.1 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 | 20736 | 220 |
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Owings. 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.