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2025 County Report

Fires in Elk County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Elk County responded to 103 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $125K property loss.

30,651 residents FIPS 42047 67 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
103
1,440 across 5 years
Building fires
7
25 wildland
Property loss
$240K
$185K structure · $55K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.

103
Total Incidents
Power line down 16 15.5%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 14 13.6%
Hazardous condition, other 11 10.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 10 9.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 8 7.8%
All other categories 44 42.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Elk County?

Sep peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 6
Feb 8
Mar 12
Apr 12
May 17
Jun 5
Jul 17
Aug 1
Sep 25
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Elk County

1,440 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 307
2022 385
2023 364
2024 281
2025 103
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 7 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
37%
11
Cause undetermined
10%
3
Intentional / arson
3%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
30%
9
Under investigation
20%
6
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

3 fires · $185K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Elk County during 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $125,000 FoxTownship of Building fires Significant
2 $50,000 FoxTownship of Building fires Significant
3 $10,000 FoxTownship of Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
06 How Elk County compares

Elk County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

3.36
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Elk County
3.36
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
0.23
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Elk County
0.23
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Elk County
0
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Elk County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42047.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Elk County

8 departments report from this county.

Crystal Fire Department
St Marys
FDID 24001 29 incidents 20 vol
Fox Township Vol Fire Departme
Kersey
FDID 24003 15 incidents
Ridgway Fire Department
Ridgway
FDID 24004 14 incidents 178 vol
Horton Township Fire Departmen
Brockport
FDID 24007 14 incidents 20 vol
Johnsonburg Fire Department
Johnsonburg
FDID 24002 11 incidents 20 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.