In 2025, fire departments serving Ottawa responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $975K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
256 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | -10.5% | |
| 2023 | 58 | +70.6% | |
| 2024 | 66 | +13.8% | |
| 2025 | 60 | -9.1% |
For the 11 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 84 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 | 22 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 10 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 25.0% |
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 | 28 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ottawa departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $975,000 | Outside equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ottawa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 8 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 469 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 332 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 16 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 11 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 41.4 mi |
Top 2 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 Ottawa. 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.