In 2025, fire departments serving McSherrystown responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
82 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $109K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | +13.3% | |
| 2023 | 17 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 19 | +11.8% | |
| 2025 | 14 | -26.3% |
For the 5 building fires McSherrystown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 1 | 14.3% |
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 McSherrystown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 1 | 14.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. McSherrystown sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,282 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 935 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 72 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 26.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 39 | 47.1 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 McSherrystown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in McSherrystown.
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.