In 2025, fire departments serving Avon Lake responded to 170 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 69% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
801 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 156 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | -3.8% | |
| 2023 | 144 | -4.0% | |
| 2024 | 181 | +25.7% | |
| 2025 | 170 | -6.1% |
For the 11 building fires Avon Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 82 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 20.7% |
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 Avon Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 30.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Avon Lake departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Avon Lake sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 7 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 515 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 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 40.2 mi |
Top 2 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 Avon Lake. 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.