In 2025, fire departments serving Chalfont responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Chalfont's departments reported 34 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 68 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
340 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $402K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66 | — | |
| 2022 | 79 | +19.7% | |
| 2023 | 56 | -29.1% | |
| 2024 | 105 | +87.5% | |
| 2025* | 34 | — |
* Well below Chalfont's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Chalfont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 90 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 | 20 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 8 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 13.3% |
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 Chalfont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 73.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chalfont departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chalfont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 31,806 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 41.0 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 Chalfont. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Chalfont.
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.