In 2025, fire departments serving Batavia responded to 216 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 59% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,252 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 198 | — | |
| 2022 | 242 | +22.2% | |
| 2023 | 299 | +23.6% | |
| 2024 | 297 | -0.7% | |
| 2025 | 216 | -27.3% |
For the 31 building fires Batavia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 276 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 | 53 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 43 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 24 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Other | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 72 | 26.1% |
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 Batavia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 136 | 49.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 24 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 17 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Batavia departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 77% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $24,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $13,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Batavia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,197 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 65 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 45.8 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 Batavia. 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.