In 2025, fire departments serving West Unity responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K 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 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
105 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $382K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | — | |
| 2023 | 36 | +100.0% | |
| 2024 | 26 | -27.8% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -50.0% |
* Well below West Unity'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 4 building fires West Unity departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 22.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 12.2% |
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 Unity mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 34.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Unity departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $250 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Unity sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 764 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 35.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 22 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 33.0 mi |
Top 2 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 Unity. 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.