In 2025, fire departments serving Nelsonville responded to 122 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $683K 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 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
794 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 186 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | -19.4% | |
| 2023 | 181 | +20.7% | |
| 2024 | 155 | -14.4% | |
| 2025 | 122 | -21.3% |
For the 25 building fires Nelsonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 186 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 | 44 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 28 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Other | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 19.4% |
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 Nelsonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 117 | 62.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 7.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Nelsonville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $683,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $43,630 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Nelsonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,577 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 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 146 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 137 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 128 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Smoking | 100 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 47.6 mi |
Top 5 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 Nelsonville. 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.