In 2025, fire departments serving Laureldale responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 61% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
320 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $25K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 71 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | -31.0% | |
| 2023 | 73 | +49.0% | |
| 2024 | 71 | -2.7% | |
| 2025 | 56 | -21.1% |
For the 13 building fires Laureldale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 25.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 6 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 23.9% |
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 Laureldale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 11 | 16.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 16.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 10 | 14.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 9.0% | |
| 6 | Match | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Laureldale departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laureldale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,991 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 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 470 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 336 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 328 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 308 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 263 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 258 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 257 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 250 | 37.0 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 | 19605 | 320 |
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Laureldale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Laureldale.
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.