In 2025, fire departments serving Archbold responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 58% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
209 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $101.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | +9.1% | |
| 2023 | 41 | -14.6% | |
| 2024 | 43 | +4.9% | |
| 2025 | 33 | -23.3% |
For the 11 building fires Archbold departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 89 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 22.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 11 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 10 | 11.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 15.7% |
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 Archbold mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 48.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Match | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Archbold departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Archbold sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 767 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 22 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 46.3 mi |
Top 3 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 Archbold. 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.