In 2025, fire departments serving McConnelsville responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $115K 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 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
129 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $193K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | — | |
| 2023* | 8 | — | |
| 2024 | 47 | — | |
| 2025 | 38 | -19.1% |
* Well below McConnelsville'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 9 building fires McConnelsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 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 | 13 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 17.2% |
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 McConnelsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 43.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Match | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by McConnelsville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $114,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. McConnelsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,841 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 36.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 125 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 40.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 21.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 43756 | 129 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of McConnelsville. 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.