In 2025, fire departments serving Hellertown responded to 106 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
658 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. 6 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 127 | — | |
| 2022 | 144 | +13.4% | |
| 2023 | 142 | -1.4% | |
| 2024 | 139 | -2.1% | |
| 2025 | 106 | -23.7% |
For the 10 building fires Hellertown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 141 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 | 68 | 48.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 11 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 12.1% |
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 Hellertown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 116 | 82.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 6.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 0.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hellertown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 6 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,628 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 336 | 46.3 mi |
Top 2 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 Hellertown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hellertown.
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.