In 2025, fire departments serving West Salem responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. West Salem's departments reported 35 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 59 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
297 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $778K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | -39.5% | |
| 2023 | 64 | +30.6% | |
| 2024 | 68 | +6.2% | |
| 2025* | 35 | — |
* Well below West Salem's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires West Salem departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 135 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 | 65 | 48.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 8.9% |
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 Salem mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 87 | 64.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Match | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Salem departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $17,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Salem sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 24 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 718 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 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 25 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 6.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 37.4 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 | 44287 | 297 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of West Salem. 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.