In 2025, fire departments serving Belpre responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $154K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
253 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | -1.9% | |
| 2023 | 37 | -28.8% | |
| 2024 | 66 | +78.4% | |
| 2025 | 45 | -31.8% |
For the 9 building fires Belpre departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 75 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 | 13 | 17.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 8 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 20.0% |
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 Belpre mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 34.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 25.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Match | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Belpre departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $154,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Accident, potential accident, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Belpre sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,012 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 147 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 143 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 125 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 109 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 83 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 21.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 17.6 mi |
Top 4 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 Belpre. 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.