In 2025, fire departments serving Mount Joy responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $8K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
386 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $511K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66 | — | |
| 2022 | 81 | +22.7% | |
| 2023 | 137 | +69.1% | |
| 2024 | 53 | -61.3% | |
| 2025 | 49 | -7.5% |
For the 16 building fires Mount Joy departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 47 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 | 7 | 14.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 23.4% |
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 Mount Joy mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 42.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 2.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mount Joy departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mount Joy sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,938 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 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 193 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 109 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 74 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 59 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 54 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 35.9 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 Mount Joy. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mount Joy.
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.