In 2025, fire departments serving Waverly responded to 156 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
914 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 178 | — | |
| 2022 | 161 | -9.6% | |
| 2023 | 185 | +14.9% | |
| 2024 | 234 | +26.5% | |
| 2025 | 156 | -33.3% |
For the 35 building fires Waverly departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 306 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 | Undetermined | 62 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 52 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 32 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 17 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 11 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 77 | 25.2% |
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 Waverly mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 152 | 49.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 21 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 15 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Match | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 40 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Waverly departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $185,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $145,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Waverly 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,719 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,865 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 591 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 476 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 400 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 366 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 332 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 303 | 33.5 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 Waverly. 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.