In 2025, fire departments serving Severna Park responded to 138 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K 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 66% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
531 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 82 | — | |
| 2023 | 128 | +56.1% | |
| 2024 | 147 | +14.8% | |
| 2025 | 138 | -6.1% |
* Well below Severna Park'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 4 building fires Severna Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | Outside area, other | 21 | 35.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 18.3% |
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 Severna Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 55.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Severna Park departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Severna Park sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,065 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 370 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 80 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 67 | 29.8 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 | 21146 | 531 |
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Severna Park. 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.