In 2025, fire departments serving Holgate responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
101 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $849K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | +23.8% | |
| 2023 | 17 | -34.6% | |
| 2024 | 20 | +17.6% | |
| 2025 | 17 | -15.0% |
For the 1 building fires Holgate departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | Undetermined | 9 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 11.9% |
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 Holgate mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 47.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Holgate departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $250 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Holgate sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 19 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 433 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 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 1.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 11 | 22.9 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 | 43527 | 101 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Holgate. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Holgate.
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.