In 2025, fire departments serving Wayne responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 59% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
115 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $32K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | +41.2% | |
| 2023 | 27 | +12.5% | |
| 2024 | 30 | +11.1% | |
| 2025 | 17 | -43.3% |
For the 2 building fires Wayne departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 5 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 | 3 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 20.0% |
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 Wayne mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 20.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wayne departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $14,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wayne sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 839 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 64 | 32.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 57 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 48 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 43 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 8.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 11.9 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 | 04284 | 115 |
Six Maine cities with population within ±25% of Wayne. 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.