In 2025, fire departments serving Ontario responded to 92 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
370 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | — | |
| 2022 | 61 | -3.2% | |
| 2023 | 58 | -4.9% | |
| 2024 | 96 | +65.5% | |
| 2025 | 92 | -4.2% |
For the 7 building fires Ontario departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 5 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 1 | 20.0% |
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 Ontario mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fireworks | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 20.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ontario sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,411 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 | 694 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Smoking | 145 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 88 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 42 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 33 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Smoking | 30 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23 | 12.3 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14519 | 370 |
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Ontario. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ontario.
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.