In 2025, fire departments serving Pepper Pike responded to 85 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 81% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
437 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 88 | — | |
| 2022 | 95 | +8.0% | |
| 2023 | 85 | -10.5% | |
| 2024 | 84 | -1.2% | |
| 2025 | 85 | +1.2% |
For the 5 building fires Pepper Pike departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 9 | 25.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 22.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 8.6% |
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 Pepper Pike mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 51.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pepper Pike departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pepper Pike sits above 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 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 24.2 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 Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Pepper Pike. 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.