In 2025, fire departments serving Burton responded to 84 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 68% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
533 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $422K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 109 | — | |
| 2022 | 108 | -0.9% | |
| 2023 | 89 | -17.6% | |
| 2024 | 143 | +60.7% | |
| 2025 | 84 | -41.3% |
For the 16 building fires Burton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | 15 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 25.3% |
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 Burton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 32.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 16.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Sunlight | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 13.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Burton departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Burton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 480 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 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 17.3 mi |
Top 6 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 Burton. 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.