In 2025, fire departments serving Bern responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
105 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 15 | — | |
| 2023* | 4 | — | |
| 2024 | 58 | — | |
| 2025 | 17 | -70.7% |
* Well below Bern'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.
For the 2 building fires Bern departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 18.2% |
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 Bern mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bern sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,554 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 935 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 336 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 328 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 308 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 263 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 258 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 257 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 250 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 250 | 36.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Bern. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.