In 2025, fire departments serving Chadds Ford responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
330 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | +11.4% | |
| 2023 | 94 | +91.8% | |
| 2024 | 92 | -2.1% | |
| 2025 | 51 | -44.6% |
For the 9 building fires Chadds Ford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 82 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 | 11 | 13.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 11.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 8.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 22.0% |
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 Chadds Ford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 61.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chadds Ford departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $11,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chadds Ford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,164 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 38.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 910 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 765 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 740 | 41.6 mi |
Top 3 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 Chadds Ford. 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.