In 2025, fire departments serving Columbia County responded to 461 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $75K property loss.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips.
4,740 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,059 | |
| 2022 | 1,163 | |
| 2023 | 1,154 | |
| 2024 | 903 | |
| 2025 | 461 |
For the 105 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Columbia County during 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | MadisonTownship of | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant |
| 2 | $50,000 | Berwick | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $30,000 | Berwick | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $20,000 | ScottTownship of | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $10,000 | ScottTownship of | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 6 | $2,000 | North CentreTownsh | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant |
| 7 | $1,000 | Berwick | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 42037.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Bloomsburg | 12,836 | View › |
| Berwick | 10,318 | View › |
| Briar Creek | 2,988 | View › |
| Mifflin | 2,117 | View › |
| Hemlock | 2,103 | View › |
| South Centre | 2,098 | View › |
| North Centre | 1,862 | View › |
| Espy | 1,568 | View › |
| Locust | 1,505 | View › |
| Main | 1,496 | View › |
| Catawissa | 1,387 | View › |
| Lightstreet | 1,298 | View › |
18 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.