In 2025, fire departments serving Germantown responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 71% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
349 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $271K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 63 | +43.2% | |
| 2023 | 81 | +28.6% | |
| 2024 | 98 | +21.0% | |
| 2025 | 63 | -35.7% |
For the 12 building fires Germantown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 78 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 | Outside area, other | 33 | 42.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 14.1% |
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 Germantown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 56.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Germantown departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Germantown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 6 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 220 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 47.2 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 Germantown. 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.