In 2025, fire departments serving Junction City responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 69% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
155 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $97K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | — | |
| 2023 | 33 | +22.2% | |
| 2024 | 49 | +48.5% | |
| 2025 | 29 | -40.8% |
* Well below Junction City'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 9 building fires Junction City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | 15 | 40.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 2.7% |
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 Junction City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 64.9% | |
| 2 | Match | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Warning or road flare; fusee | 1 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Junction City departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Junction City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,010 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 11.5 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 Junction City. 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.