In 2025, fire departments serving Jackson responded to 223 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $275K 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 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,284 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.7M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 204 | — | |
| 2022 | 244 | +19.6% | |
| 2023 | 298 | +22.1% | |
| 2024 | 315 | +5.7% | |
| 2025 | 223 | -29.2% |
For the 58 building fires Jackson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 431 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 | 80 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 64 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 55 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 39 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 19 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 18 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 10 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 100 | 23.2% |
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 Jackson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 161 | 37.4% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 39 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 27 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 25 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 24 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 22 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 76 | 17.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jackson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $275,400 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $170,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jackson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,409 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,865 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 32.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 476 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 400 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 366 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 310 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 303 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 47.0 mi |
Top 10 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 Jackson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Jackson.
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.