In 2025, fire departments serving North East responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. North East's departments reported 19 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 45 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 84% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
226 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $418K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | — | |
| 2022 | 36 | -26.5% | |
| 2023 | 65 | +80.6% | |
| 2024 | 57 | -12.3% | |
| 2025* | 19 | — |
* Well below North East'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 6 building fires North East departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | 11 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 8 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Sales area, showroom (exclude display window) | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 27.3% |
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 North East mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 28.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 12.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North East sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,662 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 780 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 92 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 85 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 72 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 64 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 54 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 54 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 16.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Recreation and ceremony | 33 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 33 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 31 | 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 North East. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in North East.
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.