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2025 County Report

Fires in Blair County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Blair County responded to 873 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss.

131,943 residents FIPS 42013 112 cities · 14 fire depts
Total incidents
873
7,038 across 5 years
Building fires
167
58 wildland
Property loss
$345K
$212K structure · $133K contents
Casualties
1 / 3
1 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.

873
Total Incidents
Building fires 167 19.1%
Hazardous condition, other 97 11.1%
Power line down 86 9.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 85 9.7%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 50 5.7%
All other categories 388 44.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Blair County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 26
Feb 48
Mar 141
Apr 113
May 96
Jun 84
Jul 116
Aug 85
Sep 79
Oct 38
Nov 34
Dec 13
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Blair County

7,038 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,481
2022 1,718
2023 1,542
2024 1,424
2025 873
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 167 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
65
Cause undetermined
11%
15
Intentional / arson
9%
12
Equipment / heat source failure
19%
25
Under investigation
8%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $212K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Blair County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 ALTOONA Passenger vehicle fire Significant
2 $40,000 ALTOONA Building fires Significant
3 $30,900 ALTOONA Building fires Significant
4 $30,000 ALTOONA Fire, other Significant
5 $5,000 ALTOONA Building fires Significant
6 $3,000 ALTOONA Fire, other Significant
7 $1,500 ALTOONA Building fires Significant
8 $1,000 ALTOONA Outside rubbish fire, other Significant
9 $500 ALTOONA Fire, other Significant
10 $300 ALTOONA Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire Significant
06 How Blair County compares

Blair County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.62
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Blair County
6.62
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
1.27
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Blair County
1.27
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
7.6
Civilian fire deaths per million
Blair County
7.6
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Blair County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42013.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Blair County

14 departments report from this county.

Altoona Fire Department
Altoona
FDID 07300 385 incidents 62 paid
Blue Knob Fire Company
Portage
FDID 07086 36 incidents 22 vol
Neptune Steam Fire Company No1
Tyrone
FDID 07034 26 incidents 23 vol
Allegheny Township Fire Depart
Altoona
FDID 07050 25 incidents
Martinsburg Fire Co
Martinsburg
FDID 07080 24 incidents 52 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in PA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Hopewell 2012 NPS 812
2 Blue Mountain 2024 NPS 577
3 River Road 2023 USFS 430
4 SNYDER 1999 NPS 374
5 Town Line Church 1984 USFS 207
6 Little Round Top Munshower 2021 NPS 79
7 Sugar Bay 2023 USFS 62
8 Spring 2003 USFS 53
9 Salmon Creek 2010 USFS 48
10 BELLTOWN 2011 USFS 42

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.