In 2025, fire departments serving Gahanna responded to 139 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K 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 53% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
936 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 194 | — | |
| 2022 | 198 | +2.1% | |
| 2023 | 220 | +11.1% | |
| 2024 | 185 | -15.9% | |
| 2025 | 139 | -24.9% |
For the 24 building fires Gahanna 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 43 | 16.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 35 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 33 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 26 | 10.2% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 18 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 12 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 53 | 20.9% |
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 Gahanna mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 24 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 24 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 18 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 15 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 12 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 11 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 41 | 16.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gahanna departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $23,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gahanna sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,764 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 332 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 38.2 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 Gahanna. 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.