In 2025, fire departments serving Beachwood responded to 121 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 64% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
729 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $508K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 146 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | +2.7% | |
| 2023 | 146 | -2.7% | |
| 2024 | 166 | +13.7% | |
| 2025 | 121 | -27.1% |
For the 16 building fires Beachwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 110 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 | Undetermined | 28 | 25.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 12.7% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Roof surface: exterior | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 14.5% |
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 Beachwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 8.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Candle | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Beachwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Beachwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 475 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 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 26.0 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 Beachwood. 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.