In 2025, fire departments serving Richmond responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 68% of all calls.
May peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
111 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $150K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022* | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | — | |
| 2024 | 25 | -10.7% | |
| 2025 | 22 | -12.0% |
* Well below Richmond's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Richmond departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | Other | 7 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 26.3% |
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 Richmond mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Richmond departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Richmond sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,155 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 40.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Richmond. 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.