In 2025, fire departments serving West Carrollton responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 56% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
577 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 119 | +11.2% | |
| 2023 | 129 | +8.4% | |
| 2024 | 149 | +15.5% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -51.0% |
For the 10 building fires West Carrollton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 172 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 | 22 | 12.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 20 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 16 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 10 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 24.4% |
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 West Carrollton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 88 | 51.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 6 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 10.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Carrollton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Carrollton 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 5 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 200 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 44.7 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 Carrollton. 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.