In 2025, fire departments serving McDonald responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 84% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
258 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58 | — | |
| 2022 | 57 | -1.7% | |
| 2023 | 45 | -21.1% | |
| 2024 | 61 | +35.6% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -39.3% |
For the 9 building fires McDonald departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Other | 6 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 8.7% |
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 McDonald mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Candle | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. McDonald sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 6 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 863 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 30 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 44.1 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 McDonald. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in McDonald.
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.