In 2025, fire departments serving Ardmore responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $800 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
213 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $232K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | — | |
| 2022 | 46 | +48.4% | |
| 2023 | 64 | +39.1% | |
| 2024 | 41 | -35.9% | |
| 2025 | 31 | -24.4% |
For the 2 building fires Ardmore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 25.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 14.5% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Ardmore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 41.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ardmore departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $800 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ardmore sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 49,713 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 48.0 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Ardmore. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ardmore.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.