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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Pittston, Pennsylvania

In 2025, fire departments serving Pittston responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A Peak yr 2024 Luzerne County 7,601 residents 1 reporting departments 201 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Pittston's departments reported 23 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 40 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
23
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
14
Residential 64% Other 36%
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 82% of all calls.

23
Total Incidents
Building fires 14 60.9%
Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined 2 8.7%
Cooking fire, confined to container 1 4.3%
Natural vegetation fire, other 1 4.3%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1 4.3%
All other categories 4 17.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

Jan 3
Feb 0
Mar 3
Apr 2
May 6
Jun 1
Jul 1
Aug 1
Sep 6
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Pittston

201 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 56 —
2022 28 -50.0%
2023 37 +32.1%
2024 57 +54.1%
2025* 23 —

* Well below Pittston'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 14 building fires Pittston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
80%
4
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
20%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Pittston?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 Undetermined 21 50.0%
2 Outside area, other 4 9.5%
3 Other 2 4.8%
4 Cooking area, kitchen 2 4.8%
5 Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room 2 4.8%
6 Substructure area or space, crawl space 2 4.8%
7 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 2 4.8%
8 Wildland, woods 2 4.8%
9 Storage area, other 1 2.4%
10 Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste 1 2.4%
11 All other areas 3 7.1%
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 Pittston mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 30 71.4%
2 Hot or smoldering object, other 3 7.1%
3 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 4.8%
4 Cigarette lighter 2 4.8%
5 Heat source: other 1 2.4%
6 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 2.4%
7 Fireworks 1 2.4%
8 Heat from other open flame or smoking materials 1 2.4%
9 Cigarette 1 2.4%
05 How Pittston compares

Pittston vs Pennsylvania vs the nation

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

3.03
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Pittston
3.03
PA avg
6.49
US avg
7.48
1.84
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Pittston
1.84
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Pittston
0
PA avg
6.3
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Pittston

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,174 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2016 Arson/incendiarism 7,949 32.5 mi
2004 Arson/incendiarism 2,265 24.8 mi
2009 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,126 9.7 mi
2008 Arson/incendiarism 995 30.8 mi
2015 Equipment and vehicle use 848 37.9 mi
2020 Arson/incendiarism 812 27.0 mi
1995 Recreation and ceremony 750 42.5 mi
2015 Arson/incendiarism 674 15.1 mi
2016 Arson/incendiarism 647 31.4 mi
1999 Arson/incendiarism 623 41.6 mi
2014 Arson/incendiarism 615 30.7 mi
2010 Arson/incendiarism 398 6.5 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Pittston do fires concentrate?

Top 10 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 18640 171
2 18643 8
3 18615 7
4 18644 7
5 18654 2
6 18655 2
7 18612 1
8 18657 1
9 18694 1
10 18940 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Pittston

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

06 First responders

Who responds in Pittston?

1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pittston.

Fire Headquarters
20 Kennedy St
FDID 400517 paid
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.