In 2025, fire departments serving Shaker Heights responded to 206 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,472 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 324 | — | |
| 2022 | 292 | -9.9% | |
| 2023 | 353 | +20.9% | |
| 2024 | 297 | -15.9% | |
| 2025 | 206 | -30.6% |
For the 20 building fires Shaker Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 242 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 | 82 | 33.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 19 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 12 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 62 | 25.6% |
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 Shaker Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 93 | 38.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 53 | 21.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 27 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 10 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shaker Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shaker Heights sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
22 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 3 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
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 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 27.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Shaker Heights. 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.