In 2025, fire departments serving Trafford responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $9K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
451 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $205K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 88 | — | |
| 2022 | 104 | +18.2% | |
| 2023 | 89 | -14.4% | |
| 2024 | 107 | +20.2% | |
| 2025 | 63 | -41.1% |
For the 3 building fires Trafford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 78 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 | 17 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 26.9% |
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 Trafford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 41.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 9.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Trafford departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Trafford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,770 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 173 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 105 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 90 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 36 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 28.2 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 Trafford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Trafford.
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.