In 2025, fire departments serving Niles responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 75% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
721 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 99 | — | |
| 2022 | 138 | +39.4% | |
| 2023 | 175 | +26.8% | |
| 2024 | 193 | +10.3% | |
| 2025 | 116 | -39.9% |
For the 17 building fires Niles departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 109 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 | 20 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 26.6% |
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 Niles mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 69 | 63.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 6.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Niles departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $111,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Niles sits below 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 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,682 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 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 46.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Niles. 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.