In 2025, fire departments serving Boston Heights responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K 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 87% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
69 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $92K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | — | |
| 2023 | 18 | +12.5% | |
| 2024 | 15 | -16.7% | |
| 2025 | 15 | +0.0% |
* Well below Boston Heights's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 0 building fires Boston Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 7.1% |
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 Boston Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Boston Heights departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Boston Heights sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 977 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 38.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44236 | 69 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Boston Heights. 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.