In 2025, fire departments serving Westminster responded to 716 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,016 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $6.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 499 | — | |
| 2022 | 646 | +29.5% | |
| 2023 | 515 | -20.3% | |
| 2024 | 640 | +24.3% | |
| 2025 | 716 | +11.9% |
For the 215 building fires Westminster departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 590 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 | Outside area, other | 92 | 15.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 74 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 63 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 56 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 48 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 43 | 7.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 23 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 12 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 12 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 154 | 26.1% |
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 Westminster mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 283 | 48.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 56 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 41 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 34 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 25 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 24 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 17 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 15 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 13 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 65 | 11.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Westminster departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 86% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Aircraft fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Westminster sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,809 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Smoking | 48 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 41 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 28.2 mi |
Top 3 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 Westminster. 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.