In 2025, fire departments serving West Middlesex responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. West Middlesex's departments reported 19 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 42 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
208 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $295K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 36 | — | |
| 2023 | 72 | +100.0% | |
| 2024 | 58 | -19.4% | |
| 2025* | 19 | — |
* Well below West Middlesex'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 3 building fires West Middlesex departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 40 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 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 20.0% |
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 West Middlesex mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 47.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Match | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Middlesex departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Middlesex sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,268 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 18.3 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16159 | 208 |
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of West Middlesex. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in West Middlesex.
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.