In 2025, fire departments serving Southampton responded to 52 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
339 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $57K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | — | |
| 2023 | 89 | +85.4% | |
| 2024 | 124 | +39.3% | |
| 2025 | 52 | -58.1% |
* Well below Southampton'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 6 building fires Southampton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 89 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 | Undetermined | 47 | 52.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 14 | 15.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Office | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 9.0% |
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 Southampton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 77 | 86.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 1.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Southampton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Southampton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,777 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 345 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 300 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 145 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 72 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 70 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 70 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 62 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 58 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 | 42.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Southampton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Southampton.
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.