In 2025, fire departments serving Glenside responded to 76 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
458 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $334K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 135 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | -27.4% | |
| 2023 | 85 | -13.3% | |
| 2024 | 64 | -24.7% | |
| 2025 | 76 | +18.8% |
For the 10 building fires Glenside departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 84 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 | Undetermined | 21 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 15 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 11.9% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 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 Glenside mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 59 | 70.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glenside sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 85,409 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 19,225 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,284 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,730 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 34.1 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19038 | 458 |
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Glenside. 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.