In 2025, fire departments serving Forest Park responded to 160 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 69% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,019 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 169 | — | |
| 2022 | 201 | +18.9% | |
| 2023 | 264 | +31.3% | |
| 2024 | 225 | -14.8% | |
| 2025 | 160 | -28.9% |
For the 63 building fires Forest Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 254 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 | 35 | 13.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 34 | 13.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 34 | 13.4% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 20 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 67 | 26.4% |
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 Forest Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 135 | 53.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 12.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Forest Park departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $250 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Forest Park sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 3 |
Top 21 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 563 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 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 | 21.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 39.4 mi |
Top 4 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 Forest Park. 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.