In 2025, fire departments serving Cortland responded to 122 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 59% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
891 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $987K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 188 | — | |
| 2022 | 204 | +8.5% | |
| 2023 | 201 | -1.5% | |
| 2024 | 176 | -12.4% | |
| 2025 | 122 | -30.7% |
For the 24 building fires Cortland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 134 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 | 23 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 14 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 10 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 25.4% |
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 Cortland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 56 | 41.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cortland departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $12,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cortland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
52 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 8 | |
| 30-39 | 19 | |
| 40-49 | 6 | |
| 50-59 | 16 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,471 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 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 34.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 29 | 47.5 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 Cortland. 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.