In 2025, fire departments serving Cuyahoga Falls responded to 393 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 62% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,747 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 315 | — | |
| 2022 | 345 | +9.5% | |
| 2023 | 328 | -4.9% | |
| 2024 | 366 | +11.6% | |
| 2025 | 393 | +7.4% |
For the 17 building fires Cuyahoga Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 282 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 | Outside area, other | 41 | 14.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 32 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 24 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 93 | 33.0% |
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 Cuyahoga Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 103 | 36.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 31 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 25 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 22 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 15 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 14 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 11.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cuyahoga Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cuyahoga Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 24 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,057 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 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 39.7 mi |
Top 6 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 Cuyahoga Falls. 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.