In 2025, fire departments serving Leetsdale responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.3M 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 73% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
273 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 69 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | -34.8% | |
| 2023 | 54 | +20.0% | |
| 2024 | 54 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 51 | -5.6% |
For the 19 building fires Leetsdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 53 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 | 10 | 18.9% | |
| 2 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 8 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Office | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 22.6% |
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 Leetsdale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 5 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 9.4% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leetsdale departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,273,125 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $105,913 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leetsdale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 959 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 40.1 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 Leetsdale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Leetsdale.
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.