In 2025, fire departments serving Darlington responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
111 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $16K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | -11.1% | |
| 2023 | 29 | +81.2% | |
| 2024 | 20 | -31.0% | |
| 2025 | 28 | +40.0% |
For the 4 building fires Darlington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.7% |
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 Darlington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Darlington departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Darlington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,515 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 10.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 27.3 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 Darlington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Darlington.
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.