In 2025, fire departments serving South Bristol responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
132 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 3 | — | |
| 2023 | 36 | — | |
| 2024 | 62 | +72.2% | |
| 2025 | 31 | -50.0% |
* Well below South Bristol'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 1 building fires South Bristol departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 3 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 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 33.3% | |
| 3 | Construction/renovation area | 1 | 33.3% |
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 South Bristol mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Lightning | 1 | 33.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 1 | 33.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Bristol sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 885 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 35 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 31 | 34.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 31.9 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 South Bristol. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in South Bristol.
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.