In 2025, fire departments serving Wilmington responded to 210 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,361 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 270 | — | |
| 2022 | 300 | +11.1% | |
| 2023 | 252 | -16.0% | |
| 2024 | 329 | +30.6% | |
| 2025 | 210 | -36.2% |
For the 25 building fires Wilmington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 254 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 | 58 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 45 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 61 | 24.0% |
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 Wilmington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 91 | 35.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 23 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 16 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Match | 16 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 14 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wilmington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wilmington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 913 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 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 37 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 30 | 47.0 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 Wilmington. 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.