In 2025, fire departments serving West Alexandria responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 70% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
291 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 78 | +77.3% | |
| 2023 | 62 | -20.5% | |
| 2024 | 63 | +1.6% | |
| 2025 | 44 | -30.2% |
For the 13 building fires West Alexandria departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 110 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 | 31 | 28.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 18.2% |
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 West Alexandria mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 29.1% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 13 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Alexandria departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Alexandria sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 44.8 mi |
Top 3 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 West Alexandria. 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.