In 2025, fire departments serving Delphos responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
381 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 65 | — | |
| 2022 | 91 | +40.0% | |
| 2023 | 72 | -20.9% | |
| 2024 | 80 | +11.1% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -8.8% |
For the 9 building fires Delphos departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 180 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 | 38 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 30 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 23 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 39 | 21.7% |
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 Delphos mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 97 | 53.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Match | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Delphos departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $220,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Delphos sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 128 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 25.3 mi |
Top 2 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 Delphos. 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.