In 2025, fire departments serving Lebanon responded to 411 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K 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 68% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,984 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $5.9M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 665 | — | |
| 2022 | 734 | +10.4% | |
| 2023 | 605 | -17.6% | |
| 2024 | 569 | -6.0% | |
| 2025 | 411 | -27.8% |
For the 85 building fires Lebanon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 434 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 | 73 | 16.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 65 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 26 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 17 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 16 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 13 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 10 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 151 | 34.8% |
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 Lebanon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 122 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 68 | 15.7% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 48 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 38 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 18 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 18 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 18 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 60 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lebanon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $22,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $14,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,762 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lebanon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
21 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 | 4 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,675 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 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 263 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 193 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 184 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 168 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 109 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 46.0 mi |
Top 7 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 Lebanon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lebanon.
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.