In 2025, fire departments serving Hamilton responded to 750 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 65% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,428 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 829 | — | |
| 2022 | 982 | +18.5% | |
| 2023 | 925 | -5.8% | |
| 2024 | 942 | +1.8% | |
| 2025 | 750 | -20.4% |
For the 117 building fires Hamilton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 848 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 | 133 | 15.7% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 125 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 125 | 14.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 92 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 72 | 8.5% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 32 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 28 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 26 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 20 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 18 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 177 | 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 Hamilton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 562 | 66.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 81 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 32 | 3.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 25 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 20 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 15 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 64 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hamilton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 62% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $173,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hamilton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
75 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 12 | |
| 30-39 | 15 | |
| 40-49 | 16 | |
| 50-59 | 11 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 13 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 450 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 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 49.7 mi |
Top 5 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 Hamilton. 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.