In 2025, fire departments serving Perry Hall responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
154 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $625K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19 | — | |
| 2022* | 14 | — | |
| 2023 | 25 | — | |
| 2024 | 51 | +104.0% | |
| 2025 | 45 | -11.8% |
* Well below Perry Hall's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 1 building fires Perry Hall departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Perry Hall mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 56.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Perry Hall departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Perry Hall sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,874 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 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 67 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 40.6 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 Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Perry Hall. 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.