In 2025, fire departments serving Breinigsville responded to 78 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $103K 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 53% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
346 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $583K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 84 | +90.9% | |
| 2023 | 73 | -13.1% | |
| 2024 | 67 | -8.2% | |
| 2025 | 78 | +16.4% |
For the 7 building fires Breinigsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 65 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 | 12 | 18.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 16.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 12.3% |
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 Breinigsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 41.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 9.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Breinigsville departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $103,300 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Breinigsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,598 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 336 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 328 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 325 | 34.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18031 | 346 |
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Breinigsville. 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.