In 2025, fire departments serving Chester Heights responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 95% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
154 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | +4.3% | |
| 2023 | 39 | +62.5% | |
| 2024 | 49 | +25.6% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -61.2% |
For the 8 building fires Chester Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | 7 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 26.7% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Chester Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 53.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chester Heights sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,605 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 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 34.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 39.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 910 | 36.8 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 Chester Heights. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Chester Heights.
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.