In 2025, fire departments serving Yellow Springs responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $6K 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 72% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
270 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $399K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022 | 65 | +25.0% | |
| 2023 | 53 | -18.5% | |
| 2024 | 57 | +7.5% | |
| 2025 | 43 | -24.6% |
For the 4 building fires Yellow Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | 7 | 19.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 22.2% |
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 Yellow Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 36.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Yellow Springs departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Yellow Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 9 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 253 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 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 18 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 48.0 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 | 45387 | 270 |
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Yellow Springs. 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.