In 2025, fire departments serving Arcanum responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K 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.
Feb peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
367 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $407K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 93 | +72.2% | |
| 2023 | 65 | -30.1% | |
| 2024 | 80 | +23.1% | |
| 2025 | 75 | -6.2% |
For the 32 building fires Arcanum departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 95 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 30 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 15 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 6 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 17.9% |
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 Arcanum mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 35.8% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 13 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Match | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Arcanum departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Arcanum sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 43.8 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 Arcanum. 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.