In 2025, fire departments serving Marietta responded to 148 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
904 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $5.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 180 | — | |
| 2022 | 208 | +15.6% | |
| 2023 | 178 | -14.4% | |
| 2024 | 190 | +6.7% | |
| 2025 | 148 | -22.1% |
For the 16 building fires Marietta departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 259 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 | 43 | 16.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 39 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 28 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 15 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 69 | 26.6% |
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 Marietta mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 130 | 50.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 15 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 14 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 11.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Marietta departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $191,730 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Marietta sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,004 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 147 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 33.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 125 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 109 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 102 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 83 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 71 | 45.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Marietta. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Marietta.
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.