In 2025, fire departments serving Palmerton responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Palmerton's departments reported 30 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 83 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 83% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
413 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $40K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | -22.4% | |
| 2023 | 116 | +39.8% | |
| 2024 | 77 | -33.6% | |
| 2025* | 30 | — |
* Well below Palmerton'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 12 building fires Palmerton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 114 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 | 14 | 12.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 28.1% |
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 Palmerton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 48.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 15 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 10 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 7.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Palmerton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,800 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 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 4.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 28.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 32.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 38.1 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 Palmerton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Palmerton.
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.