In 2025, fire departments serving Fremont responded to 173 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,260 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $5.0M cumulative property loss. 8 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 278 | — | |
| 2022 | 267 | -4.0% | |
| 2023 | 265 | -0.7% | |
| 2024 | 277 | +4.5% | |
| 2025 | 173 | -37.5% |
For the 22 building fires Fremont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 301 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 55 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 22 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 15 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 13 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 12 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 100 | 33.2% |
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 Fremont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 97 | 32.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 61 | 20.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 22 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 19 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 17 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 10.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fremont departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Rail vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fremont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
17 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 14 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 946 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 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 11 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 39.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Fremont. 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.