In 2025, fire departments serving Wyomissing responded to 85 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
704 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $249K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 146 | — | |
| 2022 | 169 | +15.8% | |
| 2023 | 192 | +13.6% | |
| 2024 | 112 | -41.7% | |
| 2025 | 85 | -24.1% |
For the 14 building fires Wyomissing departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 195 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 63 | 32.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 29 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 19 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 17.4% |
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 Wyomissing mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 61 | 31.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 51 | 26.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 34 | 17.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Sunlight | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wyomissing departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $900 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wyomissing sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,446 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 935 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 848 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 470 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 328 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 308 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 282 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 263 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 258 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 250 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 250 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Recreation and ceremony | 193 | 33.5 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 Wyomissing. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wyomissing.
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.