In 2025, fire departments serving Brentwood responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 75% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
670 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 129 | — | |
| 2022 | 158 | +22.5% | |
| 2023 | 131 | -17.1% | |
| 2024 | 157 | +19.8% | |
| 2025 | 95 | -39.5% |
For the 13 building fires Brentwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 77 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 | 26 | 33.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 24.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 9.1% |
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 Brentwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brentwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,511 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 30 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 42.1 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 | 15227 | 670 |
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Brentwood. 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.