In 2025, fire departments serving Georgetown responded to 84 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
502 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 114 | — | |
| 2023 | 115 | +0.9% | |
| 2024 | 135 | +17.4% | |
| 2025 | 84 | -37.8% |
* Well below Georgetown'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 16 building fires Georgetown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 147 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 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 24 | 16.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 24 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 23.8% |
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 Georgetown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 62 | 42.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 22 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Chemical reaction | 16 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Georgetown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $14,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $8,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Georgetown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,412 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,865 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 591 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 400 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 366 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 332 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 308 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 49.4 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 Georgetown. 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.