In 2025, fire departments serving Silverton responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 75% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
274 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $47K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 62 | +72.2% | |
| 2023 | 57 | -8.1% | |
| 2024 | 75 | +31.6% | |
| 2025 | 44 | -41.3% |
For the 3 building fires Silverton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 16.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.0% |
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 Silverton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 48.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Sunlight | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Silverton departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Silverton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 719 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 35.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 48.1 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 Silverton. 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.