In 2025, fire departments serving Kennett Square responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 57% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
663 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 94 | — | |
| 2022 | 115 | +22.3% | |
| 2023 | 150 | +30.4% | |
| 2024 | 189 | +26.0% | |
| 2025 | 115 | -39.2% |
For the 11 building fires Kennett Square departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 99 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 | 17 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 9 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 19.2% |
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 Kennett Square mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Candle | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kennett Square departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kennett Square 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 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. 14,979 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 910 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 765 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 740 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 569 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 40.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 470 | 15.2 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 Kennett Square. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kennett Square.
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.