In 2025, fire departments serving Oakwood responded to 99 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 59% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
415 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 76 | — | |
| 2022 | 79 | +3.9% | |
| 2023 | 55 | -30.4% | |
| 2024 | 106 | +92.7% | |
| 2025 | 99 | -6.6% |
For the 28 building fires Oakwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 86 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 | 11 | 12.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 11 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 11 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 18.6% |
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 Oakwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 38.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 14.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oakwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oakwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 175 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 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 44.6 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 Oakwood. 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.