In 2025, fire departments across Maine responded to 15,312 fire and hazmat incidents — including the MERCR-FY19-RX-Dean Tito wildfire that burned 10 acres in 2019.
Maine ranks #57 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 46% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Apr peaks across the window; Feb dips.
88,548 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13,901 | |
| 2022 | 16,957 | |
| 2023 | 20,806 | |
| 2024 | 21,572 | |
| 2025 | 15,312 |
For the 2,403 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 | 8,268 | 5,659 / 2,609 | 8,615 | |
| 2 | Debris & open burning | 3,405 | 3,405 / 0 | 7,005 | |
| 3 | Equipment & vehicle use | 3,324 | 1,746 / 1,578 | 2,828 | |
| 4 | Arson / incendiarism | 2,217 | 1,287 / 930 | 4,169 | |
| 5 | Recreation & ceremony | 1,192 | 1,192 / 0 | 866 | |
| 6 | Natural (lightning) | 935 | 721 / 214 | 646 | |
| 7 | Smoking | 684 | 684 / 0 | 1,605 | |
| 8 | Railroad operations | 636 | 636 / 0 | 828 | |
| 9 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 613 | 613 / 0 | 855 | |
| 10 | Power generation / utility | 332 | 332 / 0 | 138 | |
| 11 | Other causes | 169 | 115 / 54 | 173 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 37 | 37 / 0 | 11 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electrical / wiring | 22,117 | $121K | 0 | |
| 2 | Building fires | 20,776 | $183.3M | 38 | |
| 3 | Outdoor fires | 12,229 | $335K | 1 | |
| 4 | Gas leaks | 11,981 | $223K | 0 | |
| 5 | Wildland fires | 7,597 | $269K | 1 | |
| 6 | Cooking-related | 5,484 | $261K | 0 | |
| 7 | Vehicle fires | 3,346 | $530.3M | 8 | |
| 8 | Rubbish / refuse | 2,058 | $91K | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 478 | $948K | 2 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 31% of Maine's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,900,000 | WELLS | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 2 | $1,500,000 | AUBURN | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $1,500,000 | Scarborough | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $1,500,000 | Scarborough | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $1,236,300 | Scarborough | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $750,000 | Sebago | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $700,000 | South Portland | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $700,000 | Ogunquit | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $700,000 | Ogunquit | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $614,200 | WINDHAM | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Maine 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 | Cumberland County | 1,979 | 319,893 |
| 2 | York County | 1,847 | 228,452 |
| 3 | Kennebec County | 858 | 123,946 |
| 4 | Penobscot County | 688 | 150,463 |
| 5 | Hancock County | 563 | 56,047 |
| 6 | Franklin County | 520 | 29,770 |
| 7 | Androscoggin County | 313 | 115,709 |
| 8 | Aroostook County | 154 | 65,423 |
| 9 | Oxford County | 152 | 59,675 |
| 10 | Piscataquis County | 144 | 15,834 |
Top 9 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hancock County | 10.05 | 563 | 56,047 | |
| 2 | York County | 8.08 | 1,847 | 228,452 | |
| 3 | Kennebec County | 6.92 | 858 | 123,946 | |
| 4 | Cumberland County | 6.19 | 1,979 | 319,893 | |
| 5 | Penobscot County | 4.57 | 688 | 150,463 | |
| 6 | Androscoggin County | 2.71 | 313 | 115,709 | |
| 7 | Oxford County | 2.55 | 152 | 59,675 | |
| 8 | Somerset County | 2.50 | 125 | 50,087 | |
| 9 | Aroostook County | 2.35 | 154 | 65,423 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
19 perimeters and 56 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12 | 41 | |
| 2020s | 7 | 15 |
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 | 4,948 | |
| 2000s | 5,589 | |
| 2010s | 4,742 | |
| 2020s | 1,160 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 16,439 ignitions total.
332 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 | 5 | |
| 10-19 | 19 | |
| 20-29 | 68 | |
| 30-39 | 65 | |
| 40-49 | 46 | |
| 50-59 | 53 | |
| 60-69 | 30 | |
| 70-79 | 25 | |
| 80+ | 17 |
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.