In 2025, fire departments serving Kutztown responded to 133 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
740 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $81K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 110 | — | |
| 2022 | 114 | +3.6% | |
| 2023 | 221 | +93.9% | |
| 2024 | 162 | -26.7% | |
| 2025 | 133 | -17.9% |
For the 21 building fires Kutztown 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 | Undetermined | 23 | 23.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 21.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 11 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 16.2% |
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 Kutztown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 10 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kutztown departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $650 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kutztown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,901 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 935 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 41.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 336 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 328 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 325 | 42.0 mi |
Top 5 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 Kutztown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kutztown.
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.