In 2025, fire departments serving Masontown responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
270 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +29.8% | |
| 2023 | 56 | -24.3% | |
| 2024 | 47 | -16.1% | |
| 2025 | 36 | -23.4% |
For the 7 building fires Masontown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | 9 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 19.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 6 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.8% |
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 Masontown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 61.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Masontown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,681 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 13.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 102 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 45.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 71 | 44.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 62 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 50 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 47.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Masontown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Masontown.
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.