In 2025, fire departments serving Bellefontaine responded to 129 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
May peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
821 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 137 | — | |
| 2022 | 165 | +20.4% | |
| 2023 | 185 | +12.1% | |
| 2024 | 205 | +10.8% | |
| 2025 | 129 | -37.1% |
For the 20 building fires Bellefontaine departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 192 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 | 32 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 25 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 12 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 51 | 26.6% |
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 Bellefontaine mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 85 | 44.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 18 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 16.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bellefontaine departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $105,290 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $69,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $66,480 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $21,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bellefontaine sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
14 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 3 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 372 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 332 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 29.3 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 Bellefontaine. 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.