In 2025, fire departments serving Windham responded to 252 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $614K 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 59% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,531 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 229 | — | |
| 2022 | 307 | +34.1% | |
| 2023 | 325 | +5.9% | |
| 2024 | 418 | +28.6% | |
| 2025 | 252 | -39.7% |
For the 26 building fires Windham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 162 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 | 22 | 13.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 14 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 10 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 45 | 27.8% |
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 Windham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 61 | 37.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Windham departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $614,200 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $317,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $256,907 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Heat from short circuit (wiring), defective/worn | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Windham sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,975 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 236 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 44.2 mi |
Top 5 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 Windham. 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.