In 2025, fire departments serving Hudson responded to 130 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
733 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 161 | — | |
| 2022 | 138 | -14.3% | |
| 2023 | 164 | +18.8% | |
| 2024 | 140 | -14.6% | |
| 2025 | 130 | -7.1% |
For the 4 building fires Hudson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 101 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 | 30 | 29.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Office | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 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 Hudson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 56.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hudson departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $28,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $900 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hudson sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 967 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 43.5 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 Hudson. 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.