In 2025, fire departments serving Searsport responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $233K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
184 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $527K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022* | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 62 | — | |
| 2024 | 70 | +12.9% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -47.1% |
* Well below Searsport'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 6 building fires Searsport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Office | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 29.6% |
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 Searsport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 29.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Searsport departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $233,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Searsport sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 996 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 100 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 17.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 42 | 39.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 24.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 35 | 5.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 34 | 38.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33 | 18.9 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 | 04974 | 184 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Searsport. 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.