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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Youngwood, Pennsylvania

In 2025, fire departments serving Youngwood responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C+ Peak yr 2023 Westmoreland County 2,955 residents 1 reporting departments 307 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Youngwood's departments reported 30 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 61 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
30
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
5
Residential 60% Other 40%
Property loss
$12K
$2K structure · $10K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

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.

30
Total Incidents
Cooking fire, confined to container 7 23.3%
Building fires 5 16.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 3 10.0%
Power line down 3 10.0%
Overheated motor 2 6.7%
All other categories 10 33.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Feb peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 4
Feb 6
Mar 1
Apr 2
May 1
Jun 1
Jul 3
Aug 5
Sep 2
Oct 3
Nov 1
Dec 1
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Youngwood

307 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $222K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 74 —
2022 69 -6.8%
2023 86 +24.6%
2024 48 -44.2%
2025* 30 —

* Well below Youngwood'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 5 building fires Youngwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
67%
2
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
33%
1
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Youngwood?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 originCountShare 
1 Undetermined 19 50.0%
2 Open area - outside; included are farmland, field 3 7.9%
3 Cooking area, kitchen 2 5.3%
4 Equipment or service area, other 2 5.3%
5 Outside area, other 2 5.3%
6 Other 1 2.6%
7 Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape 1 2.6%
8 Egress/exit, other 1 2.6%
9 Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge 1 2.6%
10 Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison 1 2.6%
11 All other areas 5 13.2%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Youngwood mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 21 55.3%
2 Heat from powered equipment, other 5 13.2%
3 Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment 2 5.3%
4 Arcing 2 5.3%
5 Hot or smoldering object, other 2 5.3%
6 Heat source: other 1 2.6%
7 Cigarette 1 2.6%
8 Match 1 2.6%
9 Chemical reaction 1 2.6%
10 Lightning 1 2.6%
11 All other sources 1 2.6%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $2K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Youngwood departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $1,500 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Youngwood compares

Youngwood vs Pennsylvania vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Youngwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

10.15
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Youngwood
10.15
PA avg
6.49
US avg
7.48
1.69
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Youngwood
1.69
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Youngwood
0
PA avg
6.3
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Youngwood

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,588 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2016 Smoking 394 35.8 mi
2016 Arson/incendiarism 190 32.5 mi
2016 Arson/incendiarism 173 18.4 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 105 39.0 mi
2009 Debris and open burning 90 26.0 mi
2005 Arson/incendiarism 60 18.0 mi
2005 Debris and open burning 60 47.1 mi
2014 Debris and open burning 46 48.1 mi
2013 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 36 24.4 mi
2014 Arson/incendiarism 35 17.0 mi
2020 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 35 45.4 mi
2003 Railroad operations and maintenance 34 48.0 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Youngwood do fires concentrate?

Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 15697 305
2 15650 1
3 15666 1
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Youngwood

Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Youngwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Youngwood?

1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Youngwood.

Youngwood Vol Hose Co No 1
Second Chestnut STS
FDID 65026Volunteer
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.