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2025 County Report

Fires in Bucks County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Bucks County responded to 3,795 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $720K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

702,212 residents FIPS 42017 242 cities · 43 fire depts
Total incidents
3,795
29,386 across 5 years
Building fires
901
366 wildland
Property loss
$4.6M
$2.7M structure · $1.8M contents
Casualties
0 / 5
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 4 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.

3,795
Total Incidents
Building fires 901 23.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 392 10.3%
Power line down 322 8.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 271 7.1%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 259 6.8%
All other categories 1,650 43.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Bucks County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 262
Feb 406
Mar 518
Apr 302
May 345
Jun 325
Jul 358
Aug 290
Sep 359
Oct 214
Nov 262
Dec 154
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Bucks County

29,386 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 6,366
2022 7,274
2023 5,905
2024 6,046
2025 3,795
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 901 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
36%
191
Cause undetermined
21%
112
Intentional / arson
7%
35
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
50
Under investigation
22%
120
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
29
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.3M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Bucks County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 85% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $720,000 Lower Makefield Building fires Major
2 $500,000 Perkasie Borough Building fires Major
3 $500,000 Lower Makefield Building fires Major
4 $250,000 Doylestown Building fires Major
5 $100,000 Yardley Borough Building fires Significant
6 $60,000 Doylestown Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire Significant
7 $60,000 Newtown Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $50,000 Southampton Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 Doylestown Building fires Significant
10 $30,000 Newtown Building fires Significant
06 How Bucks County compares

Bucks County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.4
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Bucks County
5.4
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
1.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Bucks County
1.28
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Bucks County
0
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Bucks County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42017.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Bucks County

43 departments report from this county.

FAIRLESS HILLS
FAIRLESS HILLS
FDID 09031 253 incidents 50 vol
Yardley Makefield
Yardley
FDID 09080 239 incidents 3 paid
Northampton Township
Richboro
FDID 09003 161 incidents 22 paid 55 vol
Newtown Emergency Services Dep
Newtown
FDID 09055 157 incidents 3 paid
Warrington Township Fire Dept
Warrington
FDID 09029 140 incidents 3 paid
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.