In 2025, fire departments serving Whitehall responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K 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 94% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
307 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $31K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 77 | +108.1% | |
| 2023 | 62 | -19.5% | |
| 2024 | 85 | +37.1% | |
| 2025 | 46 | -45.9% |
For the 25 building fires Whitehall departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 9 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 | 3 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 2 | 22.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 11.1% |
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 Whitehall mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 88.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Whitehall departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Whitehall sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,800 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,265 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,126 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 812 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 750 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 674 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 623 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 44.3 mi |
Top 6 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 Whitehall. 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.