In 2025, fire departments serving Queenstown responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
210 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $11K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 38 | +40.7% | |
| 2023 | 38 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 65 | +71.1% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -35.4% |
For the 7 building fires Queenstown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 45 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 | 16 | 35.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Treatment - first aid area, surgery area | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.4% |
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 Queenstown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 84.4% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Queenstown departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Queenstown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 34,937 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 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 46.4 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 Queenstown. 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.