In 2025, fire departments serving Swarthmore responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Swarthmore's departments reported 28 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 68 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 89% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
341 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | +36.1% | |
| 2023 | 84 | +1.2% | |
| 2024 | 85 | +1.2% | |
| 2025* | 28 | — |
* Well below Swarthmore'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 10 building fires Swarthmore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | 9 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Structural area, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 17.9% |
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 Swarthmore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Candle | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 10.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Swarthmore sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 51,036 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11,638 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,577 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,900 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,600 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,450 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,300 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,240 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,900 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,600 | 40.9 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 Swarthmore. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Swarthmore.
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.