In 2025, fire departments serving Whitehall responded to 113 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
726 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 137 | — | |
| 2022 | 149 | +8.8% | |
| 2023 | 188 | +26.2% | |
| 2024 | 139 | -26.1% | |
| 2025 | 113 | -18.7% |
For the 10 building fires Whitehall departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 88 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 | 16 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 8 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 31.8% |
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 Whitehall mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 15.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Whitehall departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $18,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Whitehall sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,318 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 355 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 46 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 41.9 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 Whitehall. 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.