In 2025, fire departments serving Bellbrook responded to 74 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
449 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $806K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 89 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | +10.1% | |
| 2023 | 92 | -6.1% | |
| 2024 | 96 | +4.3% | |
| 2025 | 74 | -22.9% |
For the 9 building fires Bellbrook departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | 7 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 10 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 17.1% |
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 Bellbrook mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 17.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bellbrook departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bellbrook sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 9 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 260 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 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 18 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 37.3 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 Bellbrook. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bellbrook.
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.