In 2025, fire departments serving Andover responded to 48 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
254 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $70K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | -43.1% | |
| 2023 | 54 | +45.9% | |
| 2024 | 50 | -7.4% | |
| 2025 | 48 | -4.0% |
For the 19 building fires Andover departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | 13 | 31.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 5 | Closet | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.9% |
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 Andover mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 51.2% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Andover departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Andover sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,361 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 29 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 29 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 26 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 36.7 mi |
Top 6 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 Andover. 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.