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2025 County Report

Fires in York County, PA

In 2025, fire departments serving York County responded to 2,963 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

415,907 residents FIPS 42133 254 cities · 17 fire depts
Total incidents
2,963
21,841 across 5 years
Building fires
895
238 wildland
Property loss
$8.4M
$5.7M structure · $2.7M contents
Casualties
2 / 14
2 civ deaths · 4 civ inj · 10 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.

2,963
Total Incidents
Building fires 895 30.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 390 13.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 132 4.5%
Carbon monoxide incident 125 4.2%
Power line down 114 3.8%
All other categories 1,307 44.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in York County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 305
Feb 279
Mar 412
Apr 262
May 280
Jun 180
Jul 352
Aug 249
Sep 253
Oct 140
Nov 188
Dec 63
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in York County

21,841 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 4,544
2022 4,736
2023 5,202
2024 4,396
2025 2,963
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 895 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
51%
218
Cause undetermined
13%
57
Intentional / arson
6%
24
Equipment / heat source failure
13%
56
Under investigation
10%
42
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
13
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in York County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 29% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Dillsburg Building fires Major
2 $250,000 YORK Building fires Major
3 $200,000 WEST MANCHESTER TWP Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 Hanover Building fires Significant
5 $175,000 SPRINGETTSBURY TWP Building fires Significant
6 $150,000 Hanover Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
7 $125,000 Glen Rock Building fires Significant
8 $125,000 YORK Building fires Significant
9 $115,000 MANCHESTER TWP Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 Codorus Building fires Significant
06 How York County compares

York County vs PA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

7.12
Incidents per 1,000 residents
York County
7.12
PA avg
6.48
US avg
7.15
2.15
Building fires per 1,000 residents
York County
2.15
PA avg
1.39
US avg
0.82
4.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
York County
4.8
PA avg
6.2
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in York County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 42133.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in York County

17 departments report from this county.

York City
York
FDID 67099 371 incidents 54 paid 26 vol
YORK UNITED FIRE AND RESCUE
York
FDID 67089 320 incidents 34 paid 1 vol
West Manchester Twp
YORK
FDID 67050 242 incidents 1 paid 60 vol
Dover Township
Dover
FDID 67009 105 incidents 50 vol
Nashville
Spring Grove
FDID 67011 56 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.