In 2025, fire departments serving Rockville responded to 547 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 65% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,721 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $10.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 485 | — | |
| 2022 | 539 | +11.1% | |
| 2023 | 581 | +7.8% | |
| 2024 | 569 | -2.1% | |
| 2025 | 547 | -3.9% |
For the 26 building fires Rockville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 515 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 91 | 17.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 73 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 47 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 42 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 27 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 26 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 19 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 17 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 147 | 28.5% |
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 Rockville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 212 | 41.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 49 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 42 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 35 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 33 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 33 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 28 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 18 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 9 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 49 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rockville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 81% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rockville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,843 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 7.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 41.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 47.5 mi |
Top 10 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 Rockville. 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.