In 2025, fire departments serving Sykesville responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 90% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
85 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | -7.1% | |
| 2023 | 21 | +61.5% | |
| 2024 | 16 | -23.8% | |
| 2025 | 21 | +31.2% |
For the 5 building fires Sykesville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 12 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 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 8.3% |
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 Sykesville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 8.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sykesville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,425 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 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 688 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 352 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 352 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 297 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 295 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 260 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 236 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 233 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 173 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 160 | 33.3 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 | 15865 | 84 |
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Sykesville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sykesville.
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.