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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Leola, Pennsylvania

In 2025, fire departments serving Leola responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300 building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A- Peak yr 2023 Lancaster County 7,945 residents 2 reporting departments 264 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Leola's departments reported 15 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 53 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
15
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
8
Residential 63% Other 37%
Property loss
$300
$300 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.

15
Total Incidents
Building fires 8 53.3%
Fires in structures other than in a building 1 6.7%
Road freight or transport vehicle fire 1 6.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 1 6.7%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1 6.7%
All other categories 3 20.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 1
Feb 1
Mar 3
Apr 0
May 0
Jun 1
Jul 6
Aug 0
Sep 1
Oct 2
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Leola

264 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $300 cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 66 —
2022 63 -4.5%
2023 73 +15.9%
2024 47 -35.6%
2025* 15 —

* Well below Leola's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 8 building fires Leola departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
100%
4
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Leola?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 originCountShare 
1 Other 38 41.3%
2 Undetermined 17 18.5%
3 Outside area, other 7 7.6%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 6 6.5%
5 Storage area, other 3 3.3%
6 Vehicle area, other 3 3.3%
7 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 2 2.2%
8 Equipment or service area, other 2 2.2%
9 Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories 2 2.2%
10 Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace 2 2.2%
11 All other areas 10 10.9%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Leola mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 67 72.8%
2 Hot ember or ash 5 5.4%
3 Heat source: other 4 4.3%
4 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 4 4.3%
5 Heat from powered equipment, other 3 3.3%
6 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 2.2%
7 Arcing 2 2.2%
8 Fireworks 2 2.2%
9 Cigarette lighter 2 2.2%
10 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 1 1.1%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $300 in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leola departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $300 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Leola compares

Leola vs Pennsylvania vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leola sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

1.89
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Leola
1.89
PA avg
6.49
US avg
7.48
1.01
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Leola
1.01
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Leola
0
PA avg
6.3
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Leola

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,425 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2006 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 935 35.0 mi
2012 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 741 24.1 mi
2006 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 470 45.4 mi
2008 Recreation and ceremony 193 45.6 mi
2006 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 109 43.9 mi
2012 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 100 34.8 mi
1995 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 90 49.3 mi
2015 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 90 33.3 mi
2008 Debris and open burning 75 25.6 mi
2020 Debris and open burning 74 38.8 mi
1995 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 60 49.3 mi
2012 Arson/incendiarism 59 40.9 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Leola do fires concentrate?

Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 17540 262
2 17450 1
3 17510 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Leola

Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Leola. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Leola?

2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Leola.

Bareville Fire Department
211 Main
FDID 36031Volunteer
Upper Leacock Fire Dept
PO BOX 335
FDID 36311Volunteer
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.