In 2025, fire departments serving Wadsworth responded to 161 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $450K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
816 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 157 | — | |
| 2022 | 142 | -9.6% | |
| 2023 | 187 | +31.7% | |
| 2024 | 169 | -9.6% | |
| 2025 | 161 | -4.7% |
For the 51 building fires Wadsworth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 272 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 47 | 17.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 42 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 16 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 10 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 61 | 22.4% |
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 Wadsworth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 110 | 40.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 19 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 10 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Match | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 37 | 13.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wadsworth departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $450,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $170,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wadsworth sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,255 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 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 171 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 22 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 33.0 mi |
Top 5 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 Wadsworth. 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.