In 2025, fire departments serving Dayton responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 59% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
436 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $298K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 72 | — | |
| 2022 | 61 | -15.3% | |
| 2023 | 101 | +65.6% | |
| 2024 | 102 | +1.0% | |
| 2025 | 100 | -2.0% |
For the 12 building fires Dayton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 76 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 | 26 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 6 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 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 Dayton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 46 | 60.5% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 6.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dayton departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dayton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 575,031 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 98,960 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 51,386 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 47,029 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 46,800 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 41,545 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 36,142 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26,759 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 24,140 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 18,380 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 17,790 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15,584 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 14,500 | 35.9 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 Nevada cities with population within ±25% of Dayton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dayton.
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.