In 2025, fire departments serving Alger responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Alger's departments reported 27 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 49 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
246 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $30K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 66 | +11.9% | |
| 2023 | 41 | -37.9% | |
| 2024 | 53 | +29.3% | |
| 2025* | 27 | — |
* Well below Alger'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 3 building fires Alger departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 | Outside area, other | 31 | 33.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 13 | 14.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 9.8% |
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 Alger mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 67 | 72.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alger departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alger sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 425 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 332 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 36.0 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Alger. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Alger.
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.