In 2025, fire departments serving East Sparta responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 71% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
181 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $920K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 54 | +92.9% | |
| 2023 | 37 | -31.5% | |
| 2024 | 38 | +2.7% | |
| 2025 | 24 | -36.8% |
For the 6 building fires East Sparta departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 20 | 29.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 23.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 14.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 6.0% |
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 East Sparta mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 65.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by East Sparta departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. East Sparta sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,188 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 | 10.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 38.1 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 East Sparta. 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.