In 2025, fire departments serving Findlay responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
142 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 2 | — | |
| 2024 | 43 | — | |
| 2025 | 95 | +120.9% |
* Well below Findlay's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Findlay departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Conveyor | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Findlay mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Findlay departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Findlay sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,087 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 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 29 | 46.6 mi |
Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Findlay. 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.