In 2025, fire departments serving Ottawa responded to 219 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K 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 57% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
881 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.7M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 165 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | -9.1% | |
| 2023 | 183 | +22.0% | |
| 2024 | 164 | -10.4% | |
| 2025 | 219 | +33.5% |
For the 34 building fires Ottawa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 220 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 | 37 | 16.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 24 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 19 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 67 | 30.5% |
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 Ottawa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 88 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 26 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ottawa departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ottawa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,692 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 32.2 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Ottawa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ottawa.
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.