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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Hawley, Pennsylvania

In 2025, fire departments serving Hawley responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C- Peak yr 2021 Wayne County 1,110 residents 2 reporting departments 479 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Hawley's departments reported 45 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 96 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
45
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
11
Residential 64% Other 36%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 89% of all calls.

45
Total Incidents
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 12 26.7%
Building fires 11 24.4%
Power line down 7 15.6%
Accident, potential accident, other 7 15.6%
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 3 6.7%
All other categories 5 11.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 3
Feb 0
Mar 7
Apr 1
May 20
Jun 3
Jul 2
Aug 5
Sep 4
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Hawley

479 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 117 —
2022 114 -2.6%
2023 89 -21.9%
2024 114 +28.1%
2025* 45 —

* Well below Hawley's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 11 building fires Hawley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
100%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Hawley?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 originCountShare 
1 Outside area, other 9 30.0%
2 Undetermined 4 13.3%
3 Equipment or service area, other 3 10.0%
4 Structural area, other 3 10.0%
5 Service facilities, other 2 6.7%
6 Wildland, woods 2 6.7%
7 Cooking area, kitchen 1 3.3%
8 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 1 3.3%
9 Substructure area or space, crawl space 1 3.3%
10 Roof surface: exterior 1 3.3%
11 All other areas 3 10.0%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Hawley mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 7 23.3%
2 Hot ember or ash 5 16.7%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 6.7%
4 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 6.7%
5 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 2 6.7%
6 Arcing 2 6.7%
7 Cigarette 2 6.7%
8 Heat source: other 1 3.3%
9 Hot or smoldering object, other 1 3.3%
10 Heat, spark from friction 1 3.3%
11 All other sources 5 16.7%
05 How Hawley compares

Hawley vs Pennsylvania vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hawley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

40.54
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Hawley
40.54
PA avg
6.49
US avg
7.48
9.91
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Hawley
9.91
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Hawley
0
PA avg
6.3
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Hawley

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 26,440 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2016 Arson/incendiarism 7,949 18.1 mi
2015 Debris and open burning 2,759 39.5 mi
2004 Arson/incendiarism 2,265 24.3 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,126 40.5 mi
2016 Arson/incendiarism 2,028 44.9 mi
2008 Arson/incendiarism 995 15.1 mi
2020 Arson/incendiarism 812 23.6 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 750 33.2 mi
2015 Arson/incendiarism 674 35.8 mi
2016 Arson/incendiarism 647 21.2 mi
1999 Arson/incendiarism 623 33.3 mi
2014 Arson/incendiarism 615 15.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Hawley do fires concentrate?

Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 18428 475
2 18434 1
3 18437 1
4 18438 1
5 18451 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Hawley

Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Hawley. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Hawley?

2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hawley.

Hawley Firestation
FDID 64009Volunteer
Forest Volunteer Fire Departme
FDID 52081Volunteer
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.