In 2025, fire departments serving Orange responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $4 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
May peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
174 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $736K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 38 | +26.7% | |
| 2023 | 38 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 45 | +18.4% | |
| 2025 | 23 | -48.9% |
For the 2 building fires Orange departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 36.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Arena, assembly area w/ fixed seats - 100+ persons | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 2.8% |
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 Orange mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Match | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Sunlight | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Orange departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Orange sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 475 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 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 26.6 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 Orange. 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.