In 2025, fire departments serving Owings Mills responded to 289 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,254 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $857K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 192 | — | |
| 2022 | 214 | +11.5% | |
| 2023 | 229 | +7.0% | |
| 2024 | 330 | +44.1% | |
| 2025 | 289 | -12.4% |
For the 7 building fires Owings Mills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 | Outside area, other | 19 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 12 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 17.4% |
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 Mills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 8 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 5.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Owings Mills departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $42,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $28,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Chemical spill or leak | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Owings Mills sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,179 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 24.0 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 Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Owings Mills. 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.