In 2025, fire departments serving Hanover responded to 359 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,568 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 277 | — | |
| 2022 | 259 | -6.5% | |
| 2023 | 334 | +29.0% | |
| 2024 | 339 | +1.5% | |
| 2025 | 359 | +5.9% |
For the 83 building fires Hanover departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 185 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 | 18 | 9.7% | |
| 2 | Other | 15 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 14 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 78 | 42.2% |
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 Hanover mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 46 | 24.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 13.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hanover departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 71% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hanover sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
19 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,386 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 935 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 72 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 48.2 mi |
Top 10 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 Hanover. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hanover.
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.