In 2025, fire departments serving Watsontown responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
167 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 36 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 47 | +30.6% | |
| 2024 | 37 | -21.3% | |
| 2025 | 23 | -37.8% |
For the 9 building fires Watsontown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 26.7% |
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 Watsontown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 28.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 18.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 18.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Watsontown departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $31,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Watsontown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,222 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,000 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 935 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 605 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 424 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 263 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 193 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 184 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 183 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 168 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 161 | 29.3 mi |
Top 5 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 Watsontown. 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.