In 2025, fire departments serving Blue Ash responded to 149 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
899 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $76K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 177 | — | |
| 2022 | 202 | +14.1% | |
| 2023 | 202 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 169 | -16.3% | |
| 2025 | 149 | -11.8% |
For the 27 building fires Blue Ash departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 241 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 | 46 | 19.1% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 28 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 27 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 23 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 19 | 7.9% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 19.5% |
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 Blue Ash mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 114 | 47.3% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 23 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 11.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blue Ash departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blue Ash sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 658 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 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 | 20.5 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 Blue Ash. 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.