In 2025, fire departments serving Hellam responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
47 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | -26.7% | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | 6 | — | |
| 2025 | 10 | +66.7% |
* Well below Hellam'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.
For the 7 building fires Hellam departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | Other | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Hellam mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 62.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hellam sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,691 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 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 109 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 74 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 59 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 32.3 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 Hellam. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hellam.
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.