In 2025, fire departments serving Effort responded to 13 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 92% of all calls.
Aug peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
106 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | +52.9% | |
| 2023 | 27 | +3.8% | |
| 2024 | 23 | -14.8% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -43.5% |
For the 8 building fires Effort departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Effort mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 63.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Effort sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,683 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 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 15.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 19.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 24.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 38.7 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 Effort. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Effort.
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.