In 2025, fire departments serving Circleville responded to 226 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,125 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $12.7M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 177 | — | |
| 2022 | 213 | +20.3% | |
| 2023 | 269 | +26.3% | |
| 2024 | 240 | -10.8% | |
| 2025 | 226 | -5.8% |
For the 48 building fires Circleville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 289 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 | 100 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 38 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 24 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 3 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 15.9% |
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 Circleville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 162 | 56.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 18 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Match | 13 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 7.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Circleville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Circleville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,096 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Smoking | 100 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 65 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 38.6 mi |
Top 7 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 Circleville. 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.