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2025 County Report

Fires in Hancock County, ME

In 2025, fire departments serving Hancock County responded to 563 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss.

56,047 residents FIPS 23009 135 cities · 2 fire depts
Total incidents
563
3,091 across 5 years
Building fires
102
118 wildland
Property loss
$2.8M
$2.5M structure · $312K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 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 51% of all calls.

563
Total Incidents
Building fires 102 18.1%
Power line down 51 9.1%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 50 8.9%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 43 7.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 39 6.9%
All other categories 278 49.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Hancock County?

Aug peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 60
Feb 46
Mar 33
Apr 63
May 33
Jun 51
Jul 59
Aug 89
Sep 43
Oct 45
Nov 24
Dec 17
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Hancock County

3,091 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 471
2022 686
2023 712
2024 659
2025 563
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 102 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
39%
27
Cause undetermined
36%
25
Intentional / arson
9%
6
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
5
Under investigation
7%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Hancock County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 89% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,246 Bar Harbor Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Ellsworth Accident, potential accident, other Major
3 $250,000 Blue Hill Building fires Major
4 $250,000 Blue Hill Building fires Major
5 $200,000 Ellsworth Building fires Significant
6 $200,000 Blue Hill Building fires Significant
7 $173,000 Ellsworth Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 Blue Hill Building fires Significant
9 $120,000 Ellsworth Building fires Significant
10 $50,000 Blue Hill Building fires Significant
06 How Hancock County compares

Hancock County vs ME vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.05
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hancock County
10.05
ME avg
10.96
US avg
7.15
1.82
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hancock County
1.82
ME avg
1.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hancock County
0
ME avg
3.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Hancock County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 23009.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Hancock County

2 departments report from this county.

Deer Isle Fire Department
Deer Isle
FDID E2051 54 incidents 30 vol
Castine Fire Rescue Department
Castine
FDID E1720 12 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.