In 2025, fire departments serving Lansdowne responded to 119 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
900 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $275K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 184 | — | |
| 2022 | 167 | -9.2% | |
| 2023 | 168 | +0.6% | |
| 2024 | 262 | +56.0% | |
| 2025 | 119 | -54.6% |
For the 51 building fires Lansdowne departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 102 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 | 25 | 24.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 17 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 15 | 14.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 19.6% |
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 Lansdowne mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 49.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Match | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lansdowne departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lansdowne sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 61,988 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 11,765 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 30.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,600 | 49.0 mi |
Top 3 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 Lansdowne. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lansdowne.
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.