In 2025, fire departments serving Erie responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 89% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
126 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $717K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +76.2% | |
| 2023 | 23 | -37.8% | |
| 2024 | 27 | +17.4% | |
| 2025 | 18 | -33.3% |
For the 4 building fires Erie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 90 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 41 | 45.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 14.4% |
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 Erie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 32.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Erie departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Erie sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 56,087 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12,000 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,100 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,560 | 11.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,307 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 43.0 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 Kansas cities with population within ±25% of Erie. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Erie.
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.