In 2025, fire departments serving Pleasant Hills responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
377 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 91 | +35.8% | |
| 2023 | 78 | -14.3% | |
| 2024 | 85 | +9.0% | |
| 2025 | 56 | -34.1% |
For the 3 building fires Pleasant Hills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 63 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 | 18 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 14 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 15.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 4.8% |
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 Pleasant Hills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Match | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 7.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pleasant Hills sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,506 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 31.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 30 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 43.7 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 Pleasant Hills. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.