In 2025, fire departments serving Galena responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
May peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
347 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 72 | — | |
| 2023 | 64 | -11.1% | |
| 2024 | 89 | +39.1% | |
| 2025 | 86 | -3.4% |
* Well below Galena'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 9 building fires Galena departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | 10 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 20.0% |
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 Galena mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 43.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Galena departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Galena sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,226 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 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 171 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 42.4 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 Galena. 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.