In 2025, fire departments serving Avon responded to 202 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $460K 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 61% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,108 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 232 | — | |
| 2022 | 217 | -6.5% | |
| 2023 | 218 | +0.5% | |
| 2024 | 239 | +9.6% | |
| 2025 | 202 | -15.5% |
For the 18 building fires Avon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 270 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 | 37 | 13.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 36 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 32 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 29 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 10.4% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 15 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 11 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 57 | 21.1% |
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 mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 112 | 41.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 29 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 16 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 16 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Sunlight | 8 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 40 | 14.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Avon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $460,400 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Outside equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Avon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 6 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 495 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 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 37.0 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 Avon. 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.