In 2025, fire departments serving Fredericktown responded to 68 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.8M 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 81% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
471 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | — | |
| 2022 | 165 | +103.7% | |
| 2023 | 74 | -55.2% | |
| 2024 | 83 | +12.2% | |
| 2025 | 68 | -18.1% |
For the 41 building fires Fredericktown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 132 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 | 70 | 53.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 16 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 9.1% |
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 Fredericktown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 78 | 59.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fredericktown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,800,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fredericktown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,225 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 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 171 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 30.0 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 Fredericktown. 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.