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2025 County Report

Fires in Franklin County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Franklin County responded to 1,003 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

158,557 residents FIPS 42055 118 cities · 15 fire depts
Total incidents
1,003
7,604 across 5 years
Building fires
317
79 wildland
Property loss
$4.0M
$3.2M structure · $871K contents
Casualties
1 / 4
1 civ deaths · 3 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.

1,003
Total Incidents
Building fires 317 31.6%
Power line down 66 6.6%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 60 6.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 56 5.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 50 5.0%
All other categories 454 45.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Franklin County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 130
Feb 82
Mar 155
Apr 109
May 75
Jun 80
Jul 84
Aug 54
Sep 111
Oct 34
Nov 57
Dec 32
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Franklin County

7,604 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,661
2022 1,769
2023 1,602
2024 1,569
2025 1,003
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 317 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
58%
95
Cause undetermined
9%
14
Intentional / arson
8%
13
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
19
Under investigation
10%
16
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
6
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Franklin County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 91% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 FannettTownship of Building fires Major
2 $400,000 Waynesboro Building fires Major
3 $190,000 Waynesboro Building fires Significant
4 $175,000 Chambersburg Building fires Significant
5 $135,630 Chambersburg Building fires Significant
6 $130,088 Chambersburg Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 Chambersburg Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 MontgomeryTownship Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
9 $75,000 Chambersburg Building fires Significant
10 $70,000 Chambersburg Building fires Significant
06 How Franklin County compares

Franklin County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.33
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
6.33
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
2
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Franklin County
2
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
6.3
Civilian fire deaths per million
Franklin County
6.3
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Franklin County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42055.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Franklin County

15 departments report from this county.

Franklin Fire Company4
Chambersburg
FDID 28044 213 incidents 100 vol
CHAMBERSBURG FIRE DEPARTMENT
CHAMBERSBURG
FDID 28001 178 incidents 34 paid 1 vol
Fayetteville Fire Department
Fayetteville
FDID 28007 107 incidents 2 paid
Marion Volunteer Fire Company
CHAMBERSBURG
FDID 28008 64 incidents 7 paid
Greencastle Rescue Hose Co1
GREENCASTLE
FDID 28003 47 incidents 50 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.