In 2025, fire departments serving Leipsic responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K 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 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
201 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | — | |
| 2022 | 54 | +74.2% | |
| 2023 | 40 | -25.9% | |
| 2024 | 33 | -17.5% | |
| 2025 | 43 | +30.3% |
For the 19 building fires Leipsic departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 95 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 31.6% |
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 Leipsic mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 6.3% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 6.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leipsic departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leipsic sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 10 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 489 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 332 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 11 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 48.3 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 Leipsic. 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.