In 2025, fire departments serving Ashville responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
462 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 85 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | -16.5% | |
| 2023 | 91 | +28.2% | |
| 2024 | 120 | +31.9% | |
| 2025 | 95 | -20.8% |
For the 12 building fires Ashville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 114 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 | 31 | 27.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 26 | 22.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 6 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 19.3% |
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 Ashville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 67 | 58.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 4.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ashville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ashville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,852 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Smoking | 100 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 47.6 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 Ashville. 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.