In 2025, fire departments serving Monroe responded to 114 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 68% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
546 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $611K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 96 | — | |
| 2022 | 111 | +15.6% | |
| 2023 | 117 | +5.4% | |
| 2024 | 108 | -7.7% | |
| 2025 | 114 | +5.6% |
For the 42 building fires Monroe departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 198 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 | 34 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 25 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 17 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 26.3% |
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 Monroe mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 97 | 49.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 9 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Monroe departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,280 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Monroe sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
134 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 19 | |
| 30-39 | 57 | |
| 40-49 | 33 | |
| 50-59 | 25 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 14 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 427 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 15 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 | 44.8 mi |
Top 7 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 Monroe. 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.