In 2025, fire departments serving Bethel responded to 121 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $111K 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 80% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
690 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 116 | — | |
| 2022 | 160 | +37.9% | |
| 2023 | 133 | -16.9% | |
| 2024 | 160 | +20.3% | |
| 2025 | 121 | -24.4% |
For the 34 building fires Bethel departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 174 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 | 22 | 12.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 60 | 34.5% |
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 Bethel mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 24 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 18 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 23 | 13.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bethel departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $111,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $81,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $17,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bethel sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
22 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 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 7 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,025 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 49.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 591 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 332 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 151 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 150 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 105 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Recreation and ceremony | 95 | 41.7 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 Bethel. 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.