In 2025, fire departments serving Coaldale responded to 32 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 59% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
156 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | +21.6% | |
| 2023 | 27 | -40.0% | |
| 2024* | 15 | — | |
| 2025 | 32 | — |
* Well below Coaldale'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 9 building fires Coaldale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 9 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 12.8% |
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 Coaldale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 7.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Coaldale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,410 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 935 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 12.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 38.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 43.3 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 Coaldale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Coaldale.
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.