In 2025, fire departments serving South Vienna responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. South Vienna's departments reported 13 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 22 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
111 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $595K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | +26.3% | |
| 2023 | 22 | -8.3% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +50.0% | |
| 2025* | 13 | — |
* Well below South Vienna'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 South Vienna departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 12 | 27.9% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 23.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 7.0% |
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 South Vienna mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 48.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Match | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Vienna departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Vienna sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 10 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 152 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 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 24 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 18 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 6.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 47.9 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 South Vienna. 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.