In 2025, fire departments serving Laura responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
98 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $80K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +146.7% | |
| 2023 | 21 | -43.2% | |
| 2024 | 13 | -38.1% | |
| 2025 | 12 | -7.7% |
For the 4 building fires Laura departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 10 | 37.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 11.1% |
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 Laura mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 37.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 25.9% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 18.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laura sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 36.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Laura. 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.