In 2025, fire departments serving Union responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
159 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $344K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | — | |
| 2023 | 29 | -25.6% | |
| 2024 | 42 | +44.8% | |
| 2025 | 35 | -16.7% |
* Well below Union'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 9 building fires Union departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 17 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.9% |
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 Union mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Union departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Union sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 694 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 18.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 35 | 21.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 32 | 44.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 34.6 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 Union. 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.