In 2025, fire departments across Maryland responded to 43,138 fire and hazmat incidents — including the MDBWR-FY19-RX-Mill Ditch wildfire that burned 975 acres in 2019.
Maryland ranks #43 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Mar peaks across the window; Sep dips.
203,471 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31,396 | |
| 2022 | 40,498 | |
| 2023 | 42,419 | |
| 2024 | 46,020 | |
| 2025 | 43,138 |
For the 5,640 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined / missing | 9,559 | 928 / 8,631 | 23,163 | |
| 2 | Equipment & vehicle use | 4,980 | 451 / 4,529 | 1,486 | |
| 3 | Arson / incendiarism | 2,853 | 912 / 1,941 | 37,406 | |
| 4 | Natural (lightning) | 1,162 | 138 / 1,024 | 1,023 | |
| 5 | Debris & open burning | 1,008 | 1,008 / 0 | 8,816 | |
| 6 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 270 | 270 / 0 | 162 | |
| 7 | Smoking | 194 | 194 / 0 | 525 | |
| 8 | Recreation & ceremony | 143 | 143 / 0 | 878 | |
| 9 | Other causes | 81 | 15 / 66 | 11 | |
| 10 | Power generation / utility | 59 | 59 / 0 | 191 | |
| 11 | Railroad operations | 34 | 34 / 0 | 63 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 5 | 5 / 0 | 15 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gas leaks | 55,704 | $82K | 0 | |
| 2 | Building fires | 44,499 | $455.8M | 59 | |
| 3 | Electrical / wiring | 35,114 | $58K | 0 | |
| 4 | Outdoor fires | 27,470 | $4.7M | 0 | |
| 5 | Wildland fires | 15,044 | $1.5M | 0 | |
| 6 | Rubbish / refuse | 12,274 | $3.5M | 0 | |
| 7 | Vehicle fires | 11,308 | $1.1B | 9 | |
| 8 | Cooking-related | 10,210 | $1.1M | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 3,896 | $30.4M | 0 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 29% of Maryland's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000,000 | GREENSBORO | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $10,000,000 | BOWIE | Fire, other | Catastrophic |
| 3 | $10,000,000 | LAUREL | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 4 | $2,000,000 | Chestertown | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $2,000,000 | LAUREL | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $1,500,000 | HAGERSTOWN | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $1,100,000 | GREENSBORO | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $1,000,000 | CHESAPEAKE BEACH | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major |
| 9 | $1,000,000 | ELKTON | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $1,000,000 | ELKTON | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Maryland apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore city | 5,022 | 584,548 |
| 2 | Baltimore County | 4,812 | 757,654 |
| 3 | Montgomery County | 4,130 | 1,020,127 |
| 4 | Prince George's County | 3,540 | 902,649 |
| 5 | Anne Arundel County | 3,327 | 536,899 |
| 6 | Washington County | 2,962 | 103,721 |
| 7 | Harford County | 2,240 | 202,672 |
| 8 | Carroll County | 2,119 | 85,586 |
| 9 | Charles County | 2,024 | 124,463 |
| 10 | Frederick County | 1,757 | 199,617 |
Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington County | 28.56 | 2,962 | 103,721 | |
| 2 | Carroll County | 24.76 | 2,119 | 85,586 | |
| 3 | Charles County | 16.26 | 2,024 | 124,463 | |
| 4 | Harford County | 11.05 | 2,240 | 202,672 | |
| 5 | Frederick County | 8.80 | 1,757 | 199,617 | |
| 6 | Baltimore city | 8.59 | 5,022 | 584,548 | |
| 7 | Baltimore County | 6.35 | 4,812 | 757,654 | |
| 8 | Anne Arundel County | 6.20 | 3,327 | 536,899 | |
| 9 | Montgomery County | 4.05 | 4,130 | 1,020,127 | |
| 10 | Howard County | 4.00 | 1,128 | 281,899 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
34 perimeters and 2,685 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 17 | 2,363 | |
| 2020s | 16 | 322 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 158 | |
| 2000s | 2,600 | |
| 2010s | 1,326 | |
| 2020s | 73 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 4,157 ignitions total.
464 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 10 | |
| 10-19 | 29 | |
| 20-29 | 68 | |
| 30-39 | 68 | |
| 40-49 | 66 | |
| 50-59 | 58 | |
| 60-69 | 34 | |
| 70-79 | 38 | |
| 80+ | 21 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.