In 2025, fire departments serving Upper Providence responded to 54 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 39% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
89 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $49K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022* | 10 | — | |
| 2023 | 14 | — | |
| 2024* | 5 | — | |
| 2025 | 54 | — |
* Well below Upper Providence'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 2 building fires Upper Providence departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
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 origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 34.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 21.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 3.1% |
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 Upper Providence mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 40.6% | |
| 2 | Chemical reaction | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Upper Providence departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Upper Providence sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,217 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,950 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,000 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 910 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 740 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 569 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 470 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 343 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 45.7 mi |
Top 10 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 Upper Providence. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.