In 2025, fire departments serving Fairfield responded to 249 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 68% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,356 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 268 | — | |
| 2022 | 259 | -3.4% | |
| 2023 | 239 | -7.7% | |
| 2024 | 341 | +42.7% | |
| 2025 | 249 | -27.0% |
For the 80 building fires Fairfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 302 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 47 | 15.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 38 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 28 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 26 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 11 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 73 | 24.2% |
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 Fairfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 134 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 24 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 16 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 15 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 15 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 33 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fairfield departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fairfield sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 523 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 31.1 mi |
Top 10 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 Fairfield. 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.