In 2025, fire departments serving Etna responded to 55 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
401 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 88 | — | |
| 2022 | 70 | -20.5% | |
| 2023 | 82 | +17.1% | |
| 2024 | 106 | +29.3% | |
| 2025 | 55 | -48.1% |
For the 29 building fires Etna 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 | Outside area, other | 13 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 25.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 2.6% |
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 Etna mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 51.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Etna 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. Etna sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
38 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 13 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 6 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 4 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,411 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 260 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 76 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 40.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 39.4 mi |
Top 4 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 Etna. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.