In 2025, fire departments serving Pleasant Hill responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
82 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $53K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | +33.3% | |
| 2023 | 14 | -30.0% | |
| 2024 | 11 | -21.4% | |
| 2025 | 22 | +100.0% |
For the 0 building fires Pleasant Hill departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 17.4% |
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 Pleasant Hill mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 43.5% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pleasant Hill departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pleasant Hill sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 33.5 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 Pleasant Hill. 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.