In 2025, fire departments serving Lititz responded to 47 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $715K 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 66% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
320 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 57 | -3.4% | |
| 2023 | 84 | +47.4% | |
| 2024 | 73 | -13.1% | |
| 2025 | 47 | -35.6% |
For the 14 building fires Lititz departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 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 | 11 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 24.1% |
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 Lititz mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 25.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 15.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lititz departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $715,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lititz sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,774 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 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 263 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 193 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 184 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 168 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 109 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 74 | 31.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Lititz. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lititz.
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.