In 2025, fire departments serving Rural Valley responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 91% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
53 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | -20.0% | |
| 2023 | 13 | +62.5% | |
| 2024 | 11 | -15.4% | |
| 2025 | 11 | +0.0% |
For the 1 building fires Rural Valley departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | 7 | 36.8% | |
| 2 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Rural Valley mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Sunlight | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 5.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rural Valley sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,603 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 295 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 260 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 173 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 160 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 76 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 61 | 49.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Rural Valley. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rural Valley.
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.