In 2025, fire departments serving Garrettsville responded to 78 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $120K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Accident, potential accident, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
469 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 85 | — | |
| 2022 | 70 | -17.6% | |
| 2023 | 104 | +48.6% | |
| 2024 | 132 | +26.9% | |
| 2025 | 78 | -40.9% |
For the 15 building fires Garrettsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 64 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 14.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 9 | 14.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 18.8% |
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 Garrettsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 32.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Garrettsville departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Garrettsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 21 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,130 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 44.8 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 Garrettsville. 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.