In 2025, fire departments serving Sharpsburg responded to 85 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 72% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
349 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $180K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 61 | -9.0% | |
| 2023 | 66 | +8.2% | |
| 2024 | 70 | +6.1% | |
| 2025 | 85 | +21.4% |
For the 1 building fires Sharpsburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 47 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 | 10 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 21.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 14.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Entrance way, lobby | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 19.1% |
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 Sharpsburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 36.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Match | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 12.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sharpsburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,459 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 23.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 24.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 300 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 230 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 166 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 91 | 44.7 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 Sharpsburg. 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.