In 2025, fire departments serving Coldwater responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K 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 71% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
158 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $70K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | — | |
| 2023 | 25 | -51.9% | |
| 2024 | 38 | +52.0% | |
| 2025 | 28 | -26.3% |
* Well below Coldwater's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 11 building fires Coldwater departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | 20 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 19.3% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 15.8% |
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 Coldwater mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 64.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Coldwater departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Coldwater sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 105 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 32.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45828 | 158 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Coldwater. 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.