In 2025, fire departments serving Chambersburg responded to 239 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K 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 61% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,310 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 274 | — | |
| 2022 | 266 | -2.9% | |
| 2023 | 227 | -14.7% | |
| 2024 | 304 | +33.9% | |
| 2025 | 239 | -21.4% |
For the 74 building fires Chambersburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 166 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 11.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 14 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 53 | 31.9% |
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 Chambersburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 34.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 16.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chambersburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 88% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $135,630 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $130,088 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chambersburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,811 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 345 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 300 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 72 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 70 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 62 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 58 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 30.5 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 Chambersburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Chambersburg.
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.