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2025 County Report

Fires in Cambria County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Cambria County responded to 1,226 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

104,589 residents FIPS 42021 160 cities · 40 fire depts
Total incidents
1,226
9,693 across 5 years
Building fires
214
41 wildland
Property loss
$2.0M
$1.4M structure · $655K contents
Casualties
4 / 17
4 civ deaths · 4 civ inj · 13 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.

1,226
Total Incidents
Hazardous condition, other 256 20.9%
Building fires 214 17.5%
Power line down 129 10.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 89 7.3%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 74 6.0%
All other categories 464 37.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Cambria County?

Apr peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 123
Feb 74
Mar 152
Apr 161
May 158
Jun 72
Jul 110
Aug 88
Sep 82
Oct 71
Nov 70
Dec 65
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Cambria County

9,693 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 2,237
2022 2,243
2023 2,138
2024 1,849
2025 1,226
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 214 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
57%
86
Cause undetermined
9%
13
Intentional / arson
7%
10
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
23
Under investigation
11%
16
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Cambria County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 82% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Johnstown Building fires Major
2 $200,000 Johnstown Building fires Significant
3 $165,000 Johnstown Building fires Significant
4 $100,000 Johnstown Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 Scalp Level Borough Building fires Significant
6 $75,000 Johnstown Building fires Significant
7 $70,000 Johnstown Building fires Significant
8 $70,000 South Fork Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 Johnstown Building fires Significant
10 $50,000 Johnstown Building fires Significant
06 How Cambria County compares

Cambria County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.72
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Cambria County
11.72
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
2.05
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Cambria County
2.05
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
38.2
Civilian fire deaths per million
Cambria County
38.2
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Cambria County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42021.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Cambria County

40 departments report from this county.

Johnstown City Fire1
Ebensburg
FDID 11036 438 incidents 42 paid
Richland
Johnstown
FDID 11003 115 incidents 1 vol
Beaverdale
Beaverdale
FDID 11080 94 incidents 1 vol
Portage
Portage
FDID 11083 71 incidents 1 vol
Gallitzin
Gallitzin
FDID 11071 35 incidents 1 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.