In 2025, fire departments serving Mechanicsburg responded to 275 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,924 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 374 | — | |
| 2022 | 432 | +15.5% | |
| 2023 | 369 | -14.6% | |
| 2024 | 474 | +28.5% | |
| 2025 | 275 | -42.0% |
For the 54 building fires Mechanicsburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 293 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 | Outside area, other | 50 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 41 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 34 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 33 | 11.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Other | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 79 | 27.0% |
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 Mechanicsburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 125 | 42.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 30 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 22 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 21 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 14 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mechanicsburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mechanicsburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,165 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 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 109 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 74 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 72 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 59 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 54 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 36.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Mechanicsburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mechanicsburg.
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.