In 2025, fire departments serving Hamler responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 100% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
84 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $358K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | -36.4% | |
| 2023* | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | 31 | — | |
| 2025 | 11 | -64.5% |
* Well below Hamler'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 6 building fires Hamler departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 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 | 7 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 16.1% |
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 Hamler mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 29.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 12.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 3.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hamler departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hamler sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 14 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 298 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 69 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 5.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 11 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 6.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 27.9 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43524 | 84 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Hamler. 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.