In 2025, fire departments serving Upper Marlboro responded to 332 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,141 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $13.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 391 | — | |
| 2022 | 445 | +13.8% | |
| 2023 | 490 | +10.1% | |
| 2024 | 483 | -1.4% | |
| 2025 | 332 | -31.3% |
For the 21 building fires Upper Marlboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 569 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 | Undetermined | 146 | 25.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 107 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 59 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 38 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 23 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 20 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 20 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 16 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 12 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 115 | 20.2% |
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 Upper Marlboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 340 | 59.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 43 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 41 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 39 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 33 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 30 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | Candle | 5 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Upper Marlboro departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 60% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $110,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $75,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Upper Marlboro sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,741 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,057 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,040 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 900 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 651 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 590 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 530 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 14.7 mi |
Top 10 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 Upper Marlboro. 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.