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2025 County Report

Fires in Talbot County, MD

In 2025, fire departments serving Talbot County responded to 371 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

21,812 residents FIPS 24041 31 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
371
1,907 across 5 years
Building fires
76
34 wildland
Property loss
$3.2M
$2.5M structure · $673K 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 56% of all calls.

371
Total Incidents
Building fires 76 20.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 66 17.8%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 34 9.2%
Passenger vehicle fire 19 5.1%
Cooking fire, confined to container 14 3.8%
All other categories 162 43.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Talbot County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 35
Feb 26
Mar 68
Apr 29
May 41
Jun 33
Jul 34
Aug 25
Sep 21
Oct 26
Nov 15
Dec 18
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Talbot County

1,907 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 296
2022 297
2023 465
2024 478
2025 371
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 76 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
43%
29
Cause undetermined
16%
11
Intentional / arson
3%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
19%
13
Under investigation
12%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Talbot County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 96% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Easton Building fires Major
2 $700,000 St Michaels Building fires Major
3 $250,000 Easton Fires in structures other than in a building Major
4 $200,000 Easton Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 Trappe Building fires Significant
6 $20,000 CORDOVA Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
7 $20,000 Trappe Building fires Significant
8 $20,000 Cordova Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $20,000 Cordova Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
10 $20,000 Easton Building fires Significant
06 How Talbot County compares

Talbot County vs MD vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

17.01
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Talbot County
17.01
MD avg
8.34
US avg
7.15
3.48
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Talbot County
3.48
MD avg
1.09
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Talbot County
0
MD avg
2.7
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Talbot County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 24041.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Talbot County

5 departments report from this county.

TRAPPE VOL FIRE CO INC
—
FDID 20030 104 incidents
CORDOVA VOL FIREMANS ASSOCIAT
—
FDID 20050 42 incidents
OXFORD FIRE COMPANY INC
—
FDID 20020 35 incidents
ST MICHAELS VOL FIRE DEPT INC
—
FDID 20040 35 incidents
TILGHMAN VOL FIRE COMPANY INC
—
FDID 20070 26 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.