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2025 County Report

Fires in York County, ME

In 2025, fire departments serving York County responded to 1,847 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $4.9M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

228,452 residents FIPS 23031 139 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
1,847
10,431 across 5 years
Building fires
243
158 wildland
Property loss
$12.2M
$9.9M structure · $2.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 11
0 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 8 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.

1,847
Total Incidents
Power line down 299 16.2%
Building fires 243 13.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 150 8.1%
Carbon monoxide incident 133 7.2%
Unauthorized burning 132 7.1%
All other categories 890 48.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in York County?

Aug peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 151
Feb 144
Mar 189
Apr 176
May 140
Jun 181
Jul 145
Aug 221
Sep 147
Oct 170
Nov 149
Dec 34
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in York County

10,431 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,809
2022 1,898
2023 2,322
2024 2,555
2025 1,847
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 243 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
48%
112
Cause undetermined
23%
54
Intentional / arson
4%
9
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
29
Under investigation
9%
21
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
7
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $7.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in York County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 77% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $4,900,000 WELLS Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
2 $500,000 KENNEBUNK Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
3 $500,000 Kennebunk Building fires Major
4 $500,000 ARUNDEL Road freight or transport vehicle fire Major
5 $250,000 BIDDEFORD Building fires Major
6 $210,100 EAST WATERBORO Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 KENNEBUNK Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 BUXTON Building fires Significant
9 $200,000 SANFORD Building fires Significant
10 $200,000 SANFORD Building fires Significant
06 How York County compares

York County vs ME vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.08
Incidents per 1,000 residents
York County
8.08
ME avg
10.96
US avg
7.15
1.06
Building fires per 1,000 residents
York County
1.06
ME avg
1.72
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
York County
0
ME avg
3.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in York County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 23031.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in York County

4 departments report from this county.

Biddeford Fire Department
BIDDEFORD
FDID R0060 329 incidents 43 paid
Lebanon Fire Department
Lebanon
FDID R2990 93 incidents
Limerick Fire Department
Limerick
FDID R3040 62 incidents 1 paid 44 vol
Shapleigh Fire Department
Shapleigh
FDID R4370 39 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.