In 2025, fire departments serving Dennison responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $8K 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 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
386 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $259K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 123 | — | |
| 2022 | 72 | -41.5% | |
| 2023 | 74 | +2.8% | |
| 2024 | 66 | -10.8% | |
| 2025 | 51 | -22.7% |
For the 5 building fires Dennison departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | 19 | 34.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 10.9% |
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 Dennison mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 65.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dennison departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dennison sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,381 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 41.8 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 | 44621 | 386 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Dennison. 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.