In 2025, fire departments serving Ottawa responded to 172 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,133 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 218 | — | |
| 2022 | 227 | +4.1% | |
| 2023 | 275 | +21.1% | |
| 2024 | 241 | -12.4% | |
| 2025 | 172 | -28.6% |
For the 24 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 241 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 | 34 | 14.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 24 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 21 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 19 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 13 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Other | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 70 | 29.0% |
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 Ottawa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 94 | 39.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 30 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 26 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ottawa departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ottawa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,334 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,000 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,500 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,200 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,250 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 1,188 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,120 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,043 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 32.5 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 Kansas cities with population within ±25% of Ottawa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 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.