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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Oxford, Pennsylvania

In 2025, fire departments serving Oxford responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade B- Peak yr 2023 Chester County 5,724 residents 1 reporting departments 307 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Oxford's departments reported 25 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 61 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
25
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
17
Residential 65% Other 35%
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 96% of all calls.

25
Total Incidents
Building fires 17 68.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 12.0%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 2 8.0%
Cooking fire, confined to container 1 4.0%
Grass fire 1 4.0%
All other categories 1 4.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 7
Feb 0
Mar 5
Apr 4
May 1
Jun 2
Jul 1
Aug 2
Sep 1
Oct 0
Nov 2
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Oxford

307 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $14.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 78 —
2022 64 -17.9%
2023 99 +54.7%
2024 41 -58.6%
2025* 25 —

* Well below Oxford'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 17 building fires Oxford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
100%
2
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Oxford?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 65 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 originCountShare 
1 Cooking area, kitchen 12 18.5%
2 Undetermined 8 12.3%
3 Outside area, other 7 10.8%
4 Vehicle area, other 5 7.7%
5 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 5 7.7%
6 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 4 6.2%
7 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 2 3.1%
8 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 2 3.1%
9 Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch 2 3.1%
10 Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles 2 3.1%
11 All other areas 16 24.6%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Oxford mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 31 47.7%
2 Heat source: other 7 10.8%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 4 6.2%
4 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 4 6.2%
5 Arcing 4 6.2%
6 Radiated heat from another fire 3 4.6%
7 Hot or smoldering object, other 2 3.1%
8 Fireworks 2 3.1%
9 Flame/torch used for lighting 2 3.1%
10 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 1 1.5%
11 All other sources 5 7.7%
05 How Oxford compares

Oxford vs Pennsylvania vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oxford sits below the national average for incidents per resident.

4.37
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Oxford
4.37
PA avg
6.49
US avg
7.48
2.97
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Oxford
2.97
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Oxford
0
PA avg
6.3
US avg
5.9
5b Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Oxford

5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.

AgeCount 
0-9 0
10-19 0
20-29 0
30-39 1
40-49 0
50-59 0
60-69 2
70-79 1
80+ 1
Civilian vs firefighter
Civilian 4 FF 1
Gender
M 2 F 3 Unk 0
Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)
1
1
1
2
2
3
0
4
1
5
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Oxford

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,148 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2012 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 741 31.7 mi
2001 Arson/incendiarism 522 32.2 mi
1999 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 500 49.5 mi
2006 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 470 28.7 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 273 45.3 mi
1992 Arson/incendiarism 250 31.4 mi
1992 Arson/incendiarism 120 47.7 mi
2001 Arson/incendiarism 120 35.7 mi
1992 Debris and open burning 101 32.3 mi
1995 Arson/incendiarism 100 35.3 mi
1994 Arson/incendiarism 95 47.5 mi
1995 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 90 27.8 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Oxford do fires concentrate?

Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 19363 294
2 19362 11
3 17350 2
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Oxford

Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Oxford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Oxford?

1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Oxford.

Union Fire Company1
315 MARKET ST
FDID 15021Volunteer
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.