In 2025, fire departments serving Cambridge responded to 184 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $180K 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 58% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
949 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 230 | — | |
| 2022 | 156 | -32.2% | |
| 2023 | 190 | +21.8% | |
| 2024 | 189 | -0.5% | |
| 2025 | 184 | -2.6% |
For the 24 building fires Cambridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 319 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 | 81 | 25.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 41 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 12 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 71 | 22.3% |
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 Cambridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 148 | 46.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 19 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 15 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 13 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 49 | 15.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cambridge departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $47,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cambridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,474 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 5.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 30.4 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 Cambridge. 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.