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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Avonmore, Pennsylvania

In 2025, fire departments serving Avonmore responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C- Peak yr 2021 Westmoreland County 1,079 residents 0 reporting departments 256 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Avonmore's departments reported 30 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 51 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
30
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
11
Residential 64% Other 36%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 90% of all calls.

30
Total Incidents
Building fires 11 36.7%
Power line down 9 30.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 4 13.3%
Carbon monoxide incident 2 6.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 1 3.3%
All other categories 3 10.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jun peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 4
Feb 5
Mar 3
Apr 2
May 6
Jun 7
Jul 1
Aug 0
Sep 1
Oct 1
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Avonmore

256 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 75 —
2022* 29 —
2023 63 —
2024 59 -6.3%
2025* 30 —

* Well below Avonmore's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 11 building fires Avonmore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
50%
2
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
50%
2
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Avonmore?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 15 38.5%
2 Wildland, woods 8 20.5%
3 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 3 7.7%
4 Outside area, other 3 7.7%
5 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 2 5.1%
6 Other 1 2.6%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 1 2.6%
8 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 1 2.6%
9 Storage area, other 1 2.6%
10 Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch 1 2.6%
11 All other areas 3 7.7%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Avonmore mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 29 74.4%
2 Heat source: other 4 10.3%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 1 2.6%
4 Heat, spark from friction 1 2.6%
5 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 1 2.6%
6 Lightning 1 2.6%
7 Heat spread from another fire, other 1 2.6%
8 Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions 1 2.6%
05 How Avonmore compares

Avonmore vs Pennsylvania vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Avonmore sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

27.8
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Avonmore
27.8
PA avg
6.49
US avg
7.48
10.19
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Avonmore
10.19
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Avonmore
0
PA avg
6.3
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Avonmore

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,816 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2010 Equipment and vehicle use 260 41.2 mi
2016 Arson/incendiarism 190 26.2 mi
2016 Arson/incendiarism 173 16.9 mi
2003 Railroad operations and maintenance 173 35.7 mi
2003 Equipment and vehicle use 152 31.7 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 105 28.5 mi
2009 Debris and open burning 90 34.0 mi
2002 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 76 38.1 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 60 37.8 mi
2014 Debris and open burning 46 46.7 mi
2006 Debris and open burning 45 40.4 mi
2003 Debris and open burning 41 49.7 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Avonmore do fires concentrate?

Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 15618 254
2 15168 1
3 16518 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Avonmore

Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Avonmore. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.