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2025 County Report

Fires in Caroline County, MD

In 2025, fire departments serving Caroline County responded to 474 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $15.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

14,088 residents FIPS 24011 39 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
474
2,006 across 5 years
Building fires
167
77 wildland
Property loss
$23.3M
$19.0M structure · $4.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 4
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 4 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.

474
Total Incidents
Building fires 167 35.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 40 8.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 40 8.4%
Aircraft standby 23 4.9%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 19 4.0%
All other categories 185 39.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Caroline County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 44
Feb 58
Mar 60
Apr 33
May 41
Jun 36
Jul 41
Aug 29
Sep 26
Oct 34
Nov 45
Dec 27
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Caroline County

2,006 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 262
2022 367
2023 398
2024 505
2025 474
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 167 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
33%
30
Cause undetermined
11%
10
Intentional / arson
1%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
23%
21
Under investigation
27%
25
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $18.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Caroline County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $15,000,000 GREENSBORO Building fires Catastrophic
2 $1,100,000 GREENSBORO Building fires Major
3 $500,000 DENTON Building fires Major
4 $500,000 DENTON Building fires Major
5 $400,000 DENTON Building fires Major
6 $300,000 Federalsburg Fires in structures other than in a building Major
7 $300,000 Federalsburg Building fires Major
8 $250,000 Federalsburg Building fires Major
9 $100,000 DENTON Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 DENTON Building fires Significant
06 How Caroline County compares

Caroline County vs MD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

33.65
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Caroline County
33.65
MD avg
8.34
US avg
7.15
11.85
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Caroline County
11.85
MD avg
1.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Caroline County
0
MD avg
2.7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Caroline County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 24011.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Caroline County

7 departments report from this county.

GREENSBORO VOL FIRE CO INC
—
FDID 05006 117 incidents
DENTON VOL FIRE COMPANY INC
—
FDID 05003 99 incidents
RIDGLEY VOL FIRE DEPT INC
—
FDID 05004 63 incidents
PRESTON FIRE COMPANY
PRESTON
FDID 05002 55 incidents 57 vol
GOLDSBORO VOL FIRE COMPANY INC
—
FDID 05007 53 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.