In 2025, fire departments serving Stow responded to 247 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $932K 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 64% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,220 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 218 | — | |
| 2022 | 239 | +9.6% | |
| 2023 | 256 | +7.1% | |
| 2024 | 260 | +1.6% | |
| 2025 | 247 | -5.0% |
For the 28 building fires Stow departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 185 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 | Outside area, other | 26 | 14.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 16 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Other | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 23.8% |
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 Stow mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 69 | 37.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 8 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Match | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Stow departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $931,500 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $280,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Stow sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
16 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 22 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,017 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 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 40.9 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 Stow. 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.