In 2025, fire departments serving Dunkirk responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200 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 100% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
66 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $95K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | +58.3% | |
| 2023 | 9 | -52.6% | |
| 2024 | 15 | +66.7% | |
| 2025 | 11 | -26.7% |
For the 7 building fires Dunkirk departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Dunkirk mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dunkirk departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dunkirk sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 3 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 400 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 332 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 37.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Dunkirk. 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.