In 2025, fire departments serving Lehigh County responded to 1,697 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips.
15,576 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,393 | |
| 2022 | 3,703 | |
| 2023 | 3,647 | |
| 2024 | 3,136 | |
| 2025 | 1,697 |
For the 397 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Lehigh County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 96% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Coopersburg | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $200,000 | CATASAUQUA | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $175,000 | EMMAUS | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $103,300 | BREINIGSVILLE | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant |
| 5 | $100,000 | Coopersburg | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $90,000 | EMMAUS | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $50,000 | CATASAUQUA | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $50,000 | UPPER MACUNGIE | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $20,000 | EMMAUS | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $20,000 | ALLENTOWN | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 42077.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Allentown | 125,292 | View › |
| Lower Macungie | 32,419 | View › |
| Whitehall | 29,066 | View › |
| Upper Macungie | 26,483 | View › |
| South Whitehall | 21,044 | View › |
| Upper Saucon | 16,944 | View › |
| Fullerton | 16,358 | View › |
| North Whitehall | 15,702 | View › |
| Salisbury | 13,637 | View › |
| Emmaus | 11,644 | View › |
| Breinigsville | 9,035 | View › |
| Upper Milford | 7,853 | View › |
28 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.