In 2025, fire departments serving University Heights responded to 112 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $45K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
914 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $798K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 168 | — | |
| 2022 | 184 | +9.5% | |
| 2023 | 207 | +12.5% | |
| 2024 | 243 | +17.4% | |
| 2025 | 112 | -53.9% |
For the 4 building fires University Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 119 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 | 50 | 42.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 15.1% |
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 University Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 46 | 38.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 32 | 26.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by University Heights departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. University Heights sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 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 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 26.5 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 University 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.