In 2025, fire departments serving Brookville responded to 136 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
779 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $101.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 120 | — | |
| 2022 | 205 | +70.8% | |
| 2023 | 157 | -23.4% | |
| 2024 | 161 | +2.5% | |
| 2025 | 136 | -15.5% |
For the 15 building fires Brookville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 142 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 37 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 28 | 19.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 21 | 14.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 11 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 18.3% |
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 Brookville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 40.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 10 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 10.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brookville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $99,999,999 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $290,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brookville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 37.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Brookville. 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.