In 2025, fire departments serving Leesburg responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 74% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
201 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $696K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | — | |
| 2023 | 55 | +22.2% | |
| 2024 | 58 | +5.5% | |
| 2025 | 27 | -53.4% |
* Well below Leesburg'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 7 building fires Leesburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 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 | 22 | 27.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 10 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 22.5% |
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 Leesburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leesburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leesburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,350 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 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Smoking | 100 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.4 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 Leesburg. 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.