In 2025, fire departments serving Kittanning responded to 172 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 77% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,166 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $12K cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 211 | — | |
| 2022 | 245 | +16.1% | |
| 2023 | 287 | +17.1% | |
| 2024 | 251 | -12.5% | |
| 2025 | 172 | -31.5% |
For the 45 building fires Kittanning departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 203 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 | 42 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 34 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 12 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 8 | 3.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 19.7% |
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 Kittanning mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 78 | 38.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 13 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 17.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kittanning sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,170 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 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 260 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 173 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 76 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 20.6 mi |
Top 9 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 Kittanning. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kittanning.
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.