In 2025, fire departments serving Brookhaven responded to 96 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
798 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $210K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 166 | — | |
| 2022 | 211 | +27.1% | |
| 2023 | 219 | +3.8% | |
| 2024 | 106 | -51.6% | |
| 2025 | 96 | -9.4% |
For the 40 building fires Brookhaven departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 106 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 | Undetermined | 16 | 15.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 14 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 26.4% |
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 Brookhaven mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 12 | 11.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brookhaven departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brookhaven sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 39,632 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 42.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 30.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 34.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 40.8 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 Brookhaven. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brookhaven.
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.