In 2025, fire departments serving Mentor responded to 367 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $165K 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 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,169 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 473 | — | |
| 2022 | 432 | -8.7% | |
| 2023 | 455 | +5.3% | |
| 2024 | 442 | -2.9% | |
| 2025 | 367 | -17.0% |
For the 27 building fires Mentor 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 | 36 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 19 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 12 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 72 | 27.8% |
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 Mentor mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 115 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 17 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 14 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 12 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 9.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mentor departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $165,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mentor sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 420 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 1.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 11.4 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 Mentor. 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.