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2025 County Report

Fires in Northampton County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Northampton County responded to 2,608 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $400K property loss.

301,276 residents FIPS 42095 128 cities · 22 fire depts
Total incidents
2,608
18,821 across 5 years
Building fires
394
138 wildland
Property loss
$2.5M
$1.7M structure · $775K contents
Casualties
0 / 11
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 9 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.

2,608
Total Incidents
Authorized controlled burning 512 19.6%
Building fires 394 15.1%
Power line down 288 11.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 183 7.0%
Hazardous condition, other 130 5.0%
All other categories 1,101 42.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Northampton County?

Jul peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 160
Feb 204
Mar 319
Apr 228
May 314
Jun 191
Jul 335
Aug 238
Sep 190
Oct 172
Nov 224
Dec 33
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Northampton County

18,821 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 3,819
2022 3,774
2023 4,217
2024 4,403
2025 2,608
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 394 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
47%
155
Cause undetermined
13%
44
Intentional / arson
5%
18
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
39
Under investigation
19%
63
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
10
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.5M in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $400,000 Northampton Building fires Major
2 $300,000 ForksTownship of Building fires Major
3 $250,000 Walnutport Building fires Major
4 $178,837 Bethlehem Building fires Significant
5 $100,000 ForksTownship of Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
6 $100,000 Bath Building fires Significant
7 $80,000 Easton Outside storage fire Significant
8 $55,752 BETHLEHEM Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 Northampton Building fires Significant
10 $31,906 Bethlehem Building fires Significant
06 How Northampton County compares

Northampton County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.66
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Northampton County
8.66
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
1.31
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Northampton County
1.31
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Northampton County
0
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Northampton County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42095.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Northampton County

22 departments report from this county.

Bethlehem Fire Department
Bethlehem
FDID 48010 320 incidents 113 paid
Plainfield Twsp Vol Fire Co
Wind Gap
FDID 48036 305 incidents
EFDCentral Station
Easton
FDID 48020 223 incidents 44 paid
Forks Township Fire Department
Forks Township
FDID 48025 120 incidents 63 vol
Wilson Boro Fire Dept Station
Easton
FDID 48024 111 incidents 7 paid
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.