In 2025, fire departments serving Hermitage responded to 146 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
839 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $275K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 150 | — | |
| 2022 | 176 | +17.3% | |
| 2023 | 183 | +4.0% | |
| 2024 | 184 | +0.5% | |
| 2025 | 146 | -20.7% |
For the 10 building fires Hermitage departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 126 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 | Outside area, other | 21 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 11.9% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 24.6% |
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 Hermitage mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 35 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 17.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hermitage departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $400 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hermitage sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,500 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 260 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 18.4 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 Hermitage. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hermitage.
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.