In 2025, fire departments serving Edgewood responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
386 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 104 | — | |
| 2022 | 95 | -8.7% | |
| 2023 | 70 | -26.3% | |
| 2024 | 64 | -8.6% | |
| 2025 | 53 | -17.2% |
For the 1 building fires Edgewood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 36.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 14.0% |
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 Edgewood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Candle | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 12.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Edgewood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,685 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 35.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 30 | 37.5 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 Edgewood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Edgewood.
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.