In 2025, fire departments serving Middleport responded to 70 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 77% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
242 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $833K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | +2.2% | |
| 2023 | 40 | -14.9% | |
| 2024 | 39 | -2.5% | |
| 2025 | 70 | +79.5% |
For the 32 building fires Middleport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 11.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 30.1% |
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 Middleport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated heat from another fire | 8 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 6.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Middleport departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Middleport sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,154 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 310 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 303 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 250 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 242 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 201 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 197 | 32.7 mi |
Top 2 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 Middleport. 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.