In 2025, fire departments serving Massillon responded to 338 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3.8M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,988 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $10.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 436 | — | |
| 2022 | 340 | -22.0% | |
| 2023 | 437 | +28.5% | |
| 2024 | 437 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 338 | -22.7% |
For the 48 building fires Massillon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 449 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 | 59 | 13.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 53 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 53 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 47 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 43 | 9.6% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 14 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 13 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 122 | 27.2% |
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 Massillon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 208 | 46.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 35 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 27 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 26 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 20 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 18 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 17 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 54 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Massillon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Massillon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,247 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 171 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 43.2 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 Massillon. 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.