INDIANA COUNTY FIRST RESPONDERS SAW DIP IN BRUSH FIRES, INCREASE IN FATAL CRASHES IN 2025

Indiana County first responders saw a slight dip in brush fires in 2025 compared to 2024, but it also marked an increase in fatal crashes.

Last year, first responders were sent out for 84 brush fire calls.  That’s lower than in 2024, when the number was 95.  Seven fatal crashes were reported in 2025, most notably two on Philadelphia Street in the Downtown Indiana Business District.  The first was at the intersection of 9^th and Philadelphia Streets and involved a box struck killing two people in March.  The other was in October as a bus struck and killed two as they were in the crosswalk at 7^th and Philadelphia Streets.  Eleven people were killed in those seven fatal crashes.  PennDot reported six fatal crashes in 2024 in Indiana County with six people killed.

Since the two fatal crashes in Downtown Indiana, borough officials have been working with PennDOT on ways to make the Philadelphia Street corridor safer for pedestrians.  That has resulted in a plan in November that would make intersections all-red for pedestrian crossings.  A part of that plan to eliminate left turns from 9^th Street onto westbound Philadelphia Street was later taken off the table.