In 2025, fire departments serving Akron responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
112 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $200K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | — | |
| 2023* | 13 | — | |
| 2024 | 27 | — | |
| 2025 | 39 | +44.4% |
* Well below Akron's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Akron departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 47.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 5 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 7.9% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Akron mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 52.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Akron departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Akron sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,415 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 24.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,400 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,200 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 800 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Fireworks | 680 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 650 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 600 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 560 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 550 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 480 | 40.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 51001 | 112 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Akron. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.