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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Plymouth, Pennsylvania

In 2025, fire departments serving Plymouth responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade A+ Peak yr 2021 Montgomery County 18,188 residents 0 reporting departments 245 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Plymouth's departments reported 18 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 49 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
18
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
9
Residential 67% Other 33%
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 94% of all calls.

18
Total Incidents
Building fires 9 50.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 16.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 2 11.1%
Outside rubbish fire, other 2 11.1%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 1 5.6%
All other categories 1 5.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

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

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

Year over year in Plymouth

245 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $800 cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 77 —
2022 65 -15.6%
2023 54 -16.9%
2024 31 -42.6%
2025* 18 —

* Well below Plymouth'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 9 building fires Plymouth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
0%
0
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
100%
1
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 Plymouth?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 Outside area, other 10 31.2%
2 Cooking area, kitchen 4 12.5%
3 Wildland, woods 3 9.4%
4 Undetermined 3 9.4%
5 Other 2 6.2%
6 Laundry area, wash house (laundry) 2 6.2%
7 Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch 2 6.2%
8 Engine area, running gear, wheel area 2 6.2%
9 Storage area, other 1 3.1%
10 Structural area, other 1 3.1%
11 All other areas 2 6.2%
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 Plymouth mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 14 43.8%
2 Heat from direct flame, convection currents 5 15.6%
3 Cigarette 4 12.5%
4 Heat from powered equipment, other 2 6.2%
5 Match 2 6.2%
6 Cigarette lighter 2 6.2%
7 Heat source: other 1 3.1%
8 Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment 1 3.1%
9 Arcing 1 3.1%
05 How Plymouth compares

Plymouth vs Pennsylvania vs the nation

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

0.99
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Plymouth
0.99
PA avg
6.49
US avg
7.48
0.49
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Plymouth
0.49
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Plymouth
0
PA avg
6.3
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Plymouth

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 36,243 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 3,577 45.9 mi
1992 Arson/incendiarism 2,900 41.4 mi
2002 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,600 42.7 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,450 41.6 mi
2014 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,300 43.5 mi
2010 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,240 41.3 mi
2020 Arson/incendiarism 2,107 38.4 mi
2008 Arson/incendiarism 1,950 38.4 mi
1997 Arson/incendiarism 1,900 42.8 mi
2014 Arson/incendiarism 1,600 45.3 mi
2016 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,500 42.8 mi
2017 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,500 44.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Plymouth do fires concentrate?

Top 6 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 18651 231
2 19462 7
3 18653 4
4 16651 1
5 18706 1
6 19401 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Plymouth

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

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.