In 2025, fire departments serving Peebles responded to 105 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 74% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
430 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.8M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 73 | — | |
| 2022 | 85 | +16.4% | |
| 2023 | 98 | +15.3% | |
| 2024 | 69 | -29.6% | |
| 2025 | 105 | +52.2% |
For the 57 building fires Peebles departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 142 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 | Undetermined | 47 | 33.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 18 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 23.9% |
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 Peebles mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 82 | 57.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 12 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 10 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Match | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 6.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Peebles departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $91,950 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $36,117 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $11,400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Peebles sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,386 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,865 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 14.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 591 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 476 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 400 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 366 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 332 | 27.6 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 Peebles. 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.