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2025 County Report

Fires in Lawrence County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Lawrence County responded to 703 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $80K property loss.

73,999 residents FIPS 42073 68 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
703
6,267 across 5 years
Building fires
169
66 wildland
Property loss
$518K
$348K structure · $170K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 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 58% of all calls.

703
Total Incidents
Building fires 169 24.0%
Power line down 92 13.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 59 8.4%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 57 8.1%
Hazardous condition, other 33 4.7%
All other categories 293 41.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lawrence County?

Jul peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 60
Feb 69
Mar 91
Apr 62
May 71
Jun 61
Jul 100
Aug 94
Sep 78
Oct 5
Nov 12
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lawrence County

6,267 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,364
2022 1,284
2023 1,625
2024 1,291
2025 703
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 169 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
57%
117
Cause undetermined
6%
13
Intentional / arson
18%
38
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
22
Under investigation
7%
14
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $336K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lawrence County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 97% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $80,000 New Castle Building fires Significant
2 $80,000 New Castle Building fires Significant
3 $60,000 New Castle Building fires Significant
4 $30,000 ShenangoTownship o Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $20,000 New Castle Building fires Significant
6 $15,000 ShenangoTownship o Building fires Significant
7 $15,000 New Castle Building fires Significant
8 $15,000 New Castle Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $15,000 New Castle Building fires Significant
10 $5,500 Ellwood City Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Lawrence County compares

Lawrence County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

9.5
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lawrence County
9.5
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
2.28
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lawrence County
2.28
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lawrence County
0
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lawrence County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42073.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lawrence County

12 departments report from this county.

New Castle Central Station
New Castle
FDID 37024 186 incidents 25 paid
Slippery Rock Twp Vol Fire Dep
New Castle
FDID 37014 96 incidents
Wayne Township Vol Fire Depart
Ellwood City
FDID 37019 38 incidents 15 vol
Mahoning Twp Vol Fire Dept
Edinburg
FDID 37002 37 incidents
Wampum Volunteer Fire Departme
Wampum
FDID 37017 33 incidents 14 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.