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2025 County Report

Fires in Aroostook County, ME

In 2025, fire departments serving Aroostook County responded to 154 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $535K property loss.

65,423 residents FIPS 23003 182 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
154
803 across 5 years
Building fires
37
16 wildland
Property loss
$1.6M
$1.1M structure · $564K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.

154
Total Incidents
Building fires 37 24.0%
Carbon monoxide incident 10 6.5%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 10 6.5%
Power line down 10 6.5%
Outside rubbish fire, other 7 4.5%
All other categories 80 51.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Aroostook County?

Oct peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 15
Feb 10
Mar 9
Apr 19
May 22
Jun 8
Jul 9
Aug 19
Sep 8
Oct 25
Nov 10
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Aroostook County

803 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 140
2022 199
2023 153
2024 157
2025 154
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 37 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
54%
15
Cause undetermined
7%
2
Intentional / arson
4%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
18%
5
Under investigation
14%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Aroostook County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $535,000 Fort Kent Building fires Major
2 $200,200 Fort Kent Building fires Significant
3 $125,000 Fort Kent Building fires Significant
4 $64,200 Fort Kent Building fires Significant
5 $40,000 Houlton Building fires Significant
6 $30,000 Island Falls Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
7 $20,000 Fort Kent Building fires Significant
8 $15,000 Fort Kent Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $13,000 Houlton Building fires Significant
10 $8,000 Washburn Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire Significant
06 How Aroostook County compares

Aroostook County vs ME vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

2.35
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Aroostook County
2.35
ME avg
10.96
US avg
7.15
0.57
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Aroostook County
0.57
ME avg
1.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Aroostook County
0
ME avg
3.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Aroostook County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 23003.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Aroostook County

6 departments report from this county.

Presque Isle Fire Department
Presque Isle
FDID B4100 77 incidents 12 paid 26 vol
Fort Fairfield Fire Department
Fort Fairfield
FDID B2360 47 incidents 1 paid
Frenchville Fire Department
Frenchville
FDID B2430 11 incidents
Mars Hill Fire Department
Mars Hill
FDID B3301 10 incidents
Madawaska Fire Department
Madawaska
FDID B3220 6 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in ME

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 MERCR-FY19-RX-Dean Tito 2019 FWS 10
2 Pooler Farm RX 2024 NPS 9
3 Brave Boat Harbor 2016 FWS 7
4 EASTMAN STREAM (OX COVE) 2010 FWS 7
5 MERCR-FY19-RX-Houston Field 2019 FWS 6
6 ROCKY BROOK 2011 PRI 6
7 Saint Croix Island RX 2021 NPS 2
8 MERCR-FY19-RX-Days Landing 2019 FWS 1
9 Jordan Pond RX 2024 NPS 1
10 Flye Farm RX 2024 NPS 1

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.