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2025 County Report

Fires in Carbon County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Carbon County responded to 356 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $25 property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

60,764 residents FIPS 42025 63 cities · 20 fire depts
Total incidents
356
3,614 across 5 years
Building fires
109
65 wildland
Property loss
$25
$25 structure · $0 contents
Casualties
1 / 1
1 civ deaths · 1 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 63% of all calls.

356
Total Incidents
Building fires 109 30.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 38 10.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 32 9.0%
Carbon monoxide incident 23 6.5%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 22 6.2%
All other categories 132 37.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Carbon County?

Apr peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 26
Feb 18
Mar 50
Apr 65
May 39
Jun 21
Jul 42
Aug 16
Sep 58
Oct 7
Nov 8
Dec 6
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Carbon County

3,614 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 743
2022 876
2023 886
2024 753
2025 356
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 109 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
43%
32
Cause undetermined
4%
3
Intentional / arson
7%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
18%
13
Under investigation
28%
21
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

1 fires · $25 in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Carbon County during 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $25 Weatherly Fire, other Significant
06 How Carbon County compares

Carbon County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

5.86
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Carbon County
5.86
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
1.79
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Carbon County
1.79
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
16.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
Carbon County
16.5
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Carbon County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42025.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Carbon County

20 departments report from this county.

Jim Thorpe Fire Department
Jim Thorpe
FDID 13011 55 incidents 45 vol
Bowmanstown Volunteer Fire Com
Bowmanstown
FDID 13002 33 incidents
Franklin Twp Vol Fire Co
Lehighton
FDID 13004 30 incidents 34 vol
Lehigh Lausanne Volunteer Fi
Weatherly
FDID 13019 21 incidents 20 vol
Penn Forest Township Fire Comp
Albrightsville
FDID 13212 21 incidents
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.