In 2025, fire departments serving Shapleigh responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
244 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $100K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53 | — | |
| 2022 | 33 | -37.7% | |
| 2023 | 58 | +75.8% | |
| 2024 | 61 | +5.2% | |
| 2025 | 39 | -36.1% |
For the 6 building fires Shapleigh departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Multiple areas | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Shapleigh mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 11.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shapleigh sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,954 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 15.2 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 Maine cities with population within ±25% of Shapleigh. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Shapleigh.
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.