In 2025, fire departments serving Middle Smithfield responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 88% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
68 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022* | 3 | — | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 40 | — | |
| 2025 | 16 | -60.0% |
* Well below Middle Smithfield's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 1 building fires Middle Smithfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Middle Smithfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 7.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Middle Smithfield sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 25,670 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 12.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 6.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 8.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 6.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 12.6 mi |
Top 8 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 Middle Smithfield. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.