In 2025, fire departments serving Hummelstown responded to 55 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
264 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $507K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | — | |
| 2022 | 57 | +67.6% | |
| 2023 | 53 | -7.0% | |
| 2024 | 65 | +22.6% | |
| 2025 | 55 | -15.4% |
For the 9 building fires Hummelstown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 29.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 18.8% |
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 Hummelstown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 10 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 10.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hummelstown departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hummelstown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,032 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 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 263 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 193 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 184 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 109 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 74 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 72 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 45.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17036 | 264 |
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Hummelstown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hummelstown.
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.