In 2025, fire departments serving Wakeman responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K 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 65% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
230 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $933K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 55 | +48.6% | |
| 2023 | 50 | -9.1% | |
| 2024 | 39 | -22.0% | |
| 2025 | 49 | +25.6% |
For the 5 building fires Wakeman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 81 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 | 23 | 28.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 10 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 6 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 12.3% |
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 Wakeman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 30.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 10 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Match | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 12.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wakeman departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wakeman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 8 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 286 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 171 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 38.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44889 | 230 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Wakeman. 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.