Home› Counties› MD› Anne Arundel County
2025 County Report

Fires in Anne Arundel County, MD

In 2025, fire departments serving Anne Arundel County responded to 3,327 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $900K property loss.

536,899 residents FIPS 24003 227 cities · 37 fire depts
Total incidents
3,327
14,322 across 5 years
Building fires
283
251 wildland
Property loss
$16.6M
$12.3M structure · $4.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.

3,327
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 619 18.6%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 398 12.0%
Building fires 283 8.5%
Power line down 196 5.9%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 176 5.3%
All other categories 1,655 49.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Anne Arundel County?

Jul peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 308
Feb 337
Mar 335
Apr 284
May 256
Jun 342
Jul 408
Aug 318
Sep 276
Oct 209
Nov 239
Dec 15
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Anne Arundel County

14,322 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,124
2022 2,346
2023 3,514
2024 4,011
2025 3,327
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 283 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
322
Cause undetermined
19%
129
Intentional / arson
8%
54
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
96
Under investigation
6%
39
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
27
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $5.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Anne Arundel County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 43% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $900,000 ARNOLD Building fires Major
2 $750,000 SEVERNA PARK Building fires Major
3 $750,000 ANNAPOLIS Building fires Major
4 $700,000 PASADENA Building fires Major
5 $500,000 ARNOLD Water vehicle fire Major
6 $400,000 ODENTON Building fires Major
7 $390,400 SEVERN Building fires Major
8 $305,000 GLEN BURNIE Building fires Major
9 $300,000 GLEN BURNIE Building fires Major
10 $300,000 ARNOLD Building fires Major
06 How Anne Arundel County compares

Anne Arundel County vs MD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.2
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Anne Arundel County
6.2
MD avg
8.34
US avg
7.15
0.53
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Anne Arundel County
0.53
MD avg
1.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Anne Arundel County
0
MD avg
2.7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Anne Arundel County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 24003.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Anne Arundel County

37 departments report from this county.

BWI
—
FDID 26043 232 incidents
WOODLAND BEACH
—
FDID 24002 0 incidents
RIVA
—
FDID 24003 0 incidents
WAUGH CHAPEL
—
FDID 24005 0 incidents
HERALD HARBOR
—
FDID 24006 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in MD

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 MDBWR-FY19-RX-Mill Ditch 2019 FWS 974
2 MDMDS-FY19-RX-Thorofare 2019 State 428
3 MDMDFN-FY19-RX-Nassawango 87-88 2019 PRI 205
4 MDBWR-FY19-RX-Shorters Wharf East 2019 FWS 125
5 MDBWR-FY19-RX-Unit F2 2019 FWS 113
6 MDBWR-FY19-RX-Wolf Pit 2019 FWS 111
7 MDMDS-FY19-RX-Marshy Hope 1-1 2019 State 80
8 MDBWR-FY19-RX-McGraws Island 2019 FWS 77
9 Otto Farm Rx 2021 NPS 62
10 MDPWR-FY19-RX-NT7 Range 1 2019 FWS 60

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.