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2025 County Report

Fires in Westmoreland County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving Westmoreland County responded to 4,080 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $450K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

300,946 residents FIPS 42129 247 cities · 77 fire depts
Total incidents
4,080
28,001 across 5 years
Building fires
767
388 wildland
Property loss
$2.0M
$1.5M structure · $498K contents
Casualties
3 / 8
3 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 7 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.

4,080
Total Incidents
Building fires 767 18.8%
Power line down 620 15.2%
Cooking fire, confined to container 523 12.8%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 425 10.4%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 292 7.2%
All other categories 1,453 35.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Westmoreland County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 332
Feb 311
Mar 529
Apr 510
May 398
Jun 295
Jul 407
Aug 399
Sep 321
Oct 245
Nov 219
Dec 114
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Westmoreland County

28,001 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 5,943
2022 6,118
2023 6,409
2024 5,451
2025 4,080
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 767 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
60%
255
Cause undetermined
12%
52
Intentional / arson
6%
26
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
42
Under investigation
10%
42
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
7
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Westmoreland County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 95% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $450,000 Unity Township Building fires Major
2 $400,000 SALEM TOWNSHIP Building fires Major
3 $150,000 New Kensington Building fires Significant
4 $80,000 SALEM TOWNSHIP Building fires Significant
5 $70,000 CITY OF LATROBE Building fires Significant
6 $60,000 Jeannette Building fires Significant
7 $55,000 Greensburg Building fires Significant
8 $55,000 CITY OF LATROBE Building fires Significant
9 $55,000 CITY OF LATROBE Building fires Significant
10 $40,000 SALEM TOWNSHIP Building fires Significant
06 How Westmoreland County compares

Westmoreland County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.56
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Westmoreland County
13.56
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
2.55
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Westmoreland County
2.55
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
10
Civilian fire deaths per million
Westmoreland County
10
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Westmoreland County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42129.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Westmoreland County

77 departments report from this county.

Station 3
Greensburg
FDID 65079 666 incidents 320 vol
East Huntingdon VFD
Tarrs
FDID 65074 195 incidents 50 vol
Circleville Vol Fire Departme
North Huntingdon
FDID 65008 170 incidents 50 vol
Youngwood Vol Hose Co No 1
Youngwood
FDID 65026 149 incidents 123 vol
White Valley Vol Fire Dept
Export
FDID 65064 142 incidents 45 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.