In 2025, fire departments serving Williamsport responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
127 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $45K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022* | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 26 | — | |
| 2024 | 31 | +19.2% | |
| 2025 | 42 | +35.5% |
* Well below Williamsport'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 6 building fires Williamsport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 19 | 54.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 5.7% |
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 Williamsport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 71.4% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 2.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Williamsport sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 9 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 265 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 16.5 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 | 47993 | 127 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Williamsport. 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.