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2025 County Report

Fires in Harford County, MD

In 2025, fire departments serving Harford County responded to 2,240 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss.

202,672 residents FIPS 24025 127 cities · 11 fire depts
Total incidents
2,240
10,356 across 5 years
Building fires
381
190 wildland
Property loss
$2.4M
$1.8M structure · $650K contents
Casualties
2 / 10
2 civ deaths · 6 civ inj · 4 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 55% of all calls.

2,240
Total Incidents
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 454 20.3%
Building fires 381 17.0%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 151 6.7%
Power line down 133 5.9%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 109 4.9%
All other categories 1,012 45.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Harford County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 207
Feb 207
Mar 325
Apr 143
May 153
Jun 194
Jul 216
Aug 126
Sep 114
Oct 122
Nov 211
Dec 222
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Harford County

10,356 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,870
2022 1,977
2023 2,049
2024 2,220
2025 2,240
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 381 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
153
Cause undetermined
15%
47
Intentional / arson
6%
19
Equipment / heat source failure
14%
45
Under investigation
8%
27
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
30
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Harford County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 90% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 BEL AIR Building fires Major
2 $350,000 JOPPA Building fires Major
3 $250,000 BEL AIR Building fires Major
4 $105,000 BEL AIR Building fires Significant
5 $75,000 BEL AIR Building fires Significant
6 $75,000 FOREST HILL Building fires Significant
7 $75,000 BEL AIR Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
8 $60,000 BEL AIR Building fires Significant
9 $60,000 BEL AIR Building fires Significant
10 $50,000 BEL AIR Building fires Significant
06 How Harford County compares

Harford County vs MD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.05
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Harford County
11.05
MD avg
8.34
US avg
7.15
1.88
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Harford County
1.88
MD avg
1.09
US avg
0.82
9.9
Civilian fire deaths per million
Harford County
9.9
MD avg
2.7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Harford County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 24025.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Harford County

11 departments report from this county.

BEL AIR VOL FIRE CO INC
—
FDID 12003 598 incidents
JOPPAMAGNOLIA VOL FIRE CO INC
—
FDID 12008 324 incidents
ABINGDON FIRE CO INC
—
FDID 12004 277 incidents 150 vol
SESQUEHANNA HOSE COMPANY INC
—
FDID 12005 230 incidents
ABERDEEN FIRE DEPT INC
—
FDID 12002 222 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.