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2025 County Report

Fires in Somerset County, MD

In 2025, fire departments serving Somerset County responded to 304 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $5K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

9,791 residents FIPS 24039 50 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
304
1,707 across 5 years
Building fires
64
65 wildland
Property loss
$10K
$10K structure · $0 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 53% of all calls.

304
Total Incidents
Building fires 64 21.1%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 39 12.8%
Power line down 29 9.5%
Aircraft standby 17 5.6%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 12 3.9%
All other categories 143 47.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Somerset County?

Apr peaks. May dips.

Jan 40
Feb 28
Mar 34
Apr 42
May 11
Jun 19
Jul 16
Aug 21
Sep 26
Oct 22
Nov 20
Dec 25
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Somerset County

1,707 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 340
2022 350
2023 318
2024 395
2025 304
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 64 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
57%
38
Cause undetermined
12%
8
Intentional / arson
7%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
11
Under investigation
6%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
05 The biggest fires

2 fires · $10K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Somerset County during 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $5,000 Princess Anne Forest, woods or wildland fire Significant
2 $5,000 PRINCESS ANNE Building fires Significant
06 How Somerset County compares

Somerset County vs MD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

31.05
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Somerset County
31.05
MD avg
8.34
US avg
7.15
6.54
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Somerset County
6.54
MD avg
1.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Somerset County
0
MD avg
2.7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Somerset County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 24039.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Somerset County

8 departments report from this county.

PRINCESS ANNE VOL FIRE CO INC
—
FDID 19005 60 incidents
MARION VOL FIRE DEPT INC
—
FDID 19003 55 incidents
CRISFIELD VOL FIRE DEPT INC
—
FDID 19002 36 incidents
MT VERNON VOL FIRE CO
—
FDID 19006 31 incidents
EWELL VOL FIRE COMPANY INC
—
FDID 19001 15 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.