In 2025, fire departments serving Bethel Park responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
754 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $94K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 145 | — | |
| 2022 | 167 | +15.2% | |
| 2023 | 168 | +0.6% | |
| 2024 | 159 | -5.4% | |
| 2025 | 115 | -27.7% |
For the 15 building fires Bethel Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 179 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 | Outside area, other | 36 | 20.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 26 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 29.1% |
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 Bethel Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 36.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 22 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bethel Park departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $13,300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bethel Park sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 34.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 30 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 28 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Other causes | 26 | 49.4 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 Bethel Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bethel Park.
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.