Home› Pennsylvania› Charleroi
2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Charleroi, Pennsylvania

In 2025, fire departments serving Charleroi responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C+ Peak yr 2022 Washington County 4,222 residents 0 reporting departments 484 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Charleroi's departments reported 35 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 97 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
35
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
17
Residential 65% Other 35%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.

35
Total Incidents
Building fires 17 48.6%
Power line down 5 14.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 4 11.4%
Overheated motor 3 8.6%
Grass fire 1 2.9%
All other categories 5 14.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 6
Feb 1
Mar 0
Apr 2
May 8
Jun 1
Jul 11
Aug 5
Sep 1
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Charleroi

484 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 91 —
2022 148 +62.6%
2023 118 -20.3%
2024 92 -22.0%
2025* 35 —

* Well below Charleroi'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 17 building fires Charleroi departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
17%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
17%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
50%
3
Under investigation
17%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Charleroi?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 84 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 originCountShare 
1 Cooking area, kitchen 20 23.8%
2 Other 11 13.1%
3 Outside area, other 9 10.7%
4 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 4 4.8%
5 Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC 3 3.6%
6 Vehicle area, other 3 3.6%
7 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 3 3.6%
8 Undetermined 3 3.6%
9 Equipment or service area, other 2 2.4%
10 Heating room or area, water heater area 2 2.4%
11 All other areas 24 28.6%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Charleroi mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 34 40.5%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 15 17.9%
3 Arcing 14 16.7%
4 Hot ember or ash 4 4.8%
5 Cigarette 4 4.8%
6 Hot or smoldering object, other 3 3.6%
7 Heat source: other 2 2.4%
8 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 2 2.4%
9 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 2 2.4%
10 Molten, hot material 1 1.2%
11 All other sources 3 3.6%
05 How Charleroi compares

Charleroi vs Pennsylvania vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Charleroi sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

8.29
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Charleroi
8.29
PA avg
6.49
US avg
7.48
4.03
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Charleroi
4.03
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Charleroi
0
PA avg
6.3
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Charleroi

5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 0
10-19 0
20-29 1
30-39 2
40-49 2
50-59 0
60-69 0
70-79 0
80+ 0
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 3 FF 2
Gender
M 4 F 1 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
3
1
2
2
0
3
0
4
0
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Charleroi

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,382 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2016 Smoking 394 29.9 mi
2016 Arson/incendiarism 173 36.7 mi
2009 Debris and open burning 90 41.3 mi
1998 Arson/incendiarism 62 49.2 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 60 20.6 mi
2005 Debris and open burning 60 45.0 mi
1992 Arson/incendiarism 48 36.3 mi
2009 Equipment and vehicle use 40 39.7 mi
1992 Debris and open burning 36 49.8 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36 41.9 mi
2014 Arson/incendiarism 35 19.1 mi
2016 Railroad operations and maintenance 30 23.4 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Charleroi do fires concentrate?

Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 15022 483
2 15012 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Charleroi

Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Charleroi. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.