In 2025, fire departments serving Preston responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
253 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | — | |
| 2023 | 50 | -25.4% | |
| 2024 | 64 | +28.0% | |
| 2025 | 44 | -31.2% |
* Well below Preston'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 5 building fires Preston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 53 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 | 15 | 28.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 18.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 20.8% |
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 Preston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 37.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 22.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Other static discharge | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Preston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,156 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 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 23.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 35.2 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 | 21655 | 253 |
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Preston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Preston.
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.