In 2025, fire departments serving Point of Rocks responded to 13 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 77% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
48 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 7 | -36.4% | |
| 2025 | 13 | +85.7% |
* Well below Point of Rocks'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 Point of Rocks departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Point of Rocks mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 11.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Point of Rocks sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,541 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 19.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 20.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 300 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 166 | 49.5 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 Point of Rocks. 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.