In 2025, fire departments serving Old Forge responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Old Forge's departments reported 40 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 74 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 85% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
370 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 68 | — | |
| 2022 | 128 | +88.2% | |
| 2023 | 75 | -41.4% | |
| 2024 | 59 | -21.3% | |
| 2025* | 40 | — |
* Well below Old Forge'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 25 building fires Old Forge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 86 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 | 19 | 22.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 26.7% |
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 Old Forge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 60.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Old Forge sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,338 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 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 26.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 30.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 398 | 4.0 mi |
Top 3 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 Old Forge. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Old Forge.
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.