In 2025, fire departments serving Cincinnati responded to 2,551 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.3M 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 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
17,167 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $57.6M cumulative property loss. 22 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4,520 | — | |
| 2022 | 2,696 | -40.4% | |
| 2023 | 3,642 | +35.1% | |
| 2024 | 3,758 | +3.2% | |
| 2025 | 2,551 | -32.1% |
For the 211 building fires Cincinnati departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 4,882 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 | 707 | 14.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 703 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 684 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 519 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 355 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 218 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 170 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 156 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 129 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 110 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1,131 | 23.2% |
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 Cincinnati mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 2,177 | 44.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 344 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 278 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 274 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 215 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 215 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 205 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 197 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 189 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 82 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 706 | 14.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cincinnati departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 33% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $298,252 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $284,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $275,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $259,646 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cincinnati sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
125 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 | 3 | |
| 10-19 | 4 | |
| 20-29 | 9 | |
| 30-39 | 16 | |
| 40-49 | 13 | |
| 50-59 | 15 | |
| 60-69 | 9 | |
| 70-79 | 8 | |
| 80+ | 3 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,208 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Firearms and explosives use | 60 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 45 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 40 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 | 47.6 mi |
Top 10 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 Cincinnati. 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.