In 2025, fire departments serving Bellevue responded to 56 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 52% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
398 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74 | — | |
| 2022 | 99 | +33.8% | |
| 2023 | 90 | -9.1% | |
| 2024 | 79 | -12.2% | |
| 2025 | 56 | -29.1% |
For the 8 building fires Bellevue departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 145 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 | Outside area, other | 30 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 23 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 10 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 24.8% |
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 Bellevue mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 30.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 12 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bellevue departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% 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 | $12,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bellevue sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 8 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 652 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 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 171 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 19.2 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 Bellevue. 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.