In 2025, fire departments serving North Canton responded to 221 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 57% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,053 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 198 | — | |
| 2022 | 168 | -15.2% | |
| 2023 | 164 | -2.4% | |
| 2024 | 302 | +84.1% | |
| 2025 | 221 | -26.8% |
For the 11 building fires North Canton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 210 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 | 37 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 29 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 12 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 10 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 21.0% |
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 North Canton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 103 | 49.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North Canton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Canton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,062 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 171 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 4.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 48.4 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 North Canton. 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.