In 2025, fire departments serving Youngstown responded to 746 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $76K 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 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,443 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7.3M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 909 | — | |
| 2022 | 844 | -7.2% | |
| 2023 | 1,012 | +19.9% | |
| 2024 | 932 | -7.9% | |
| 2025 | 746 | -20.0% |
For the 93 building fires Youngstown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,388 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 | 241 | 17.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 159 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 150 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 145 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 69 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 53 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 51 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 47 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 45 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 40 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 388 | 28.0% |
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 Youngstown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 899 | 64.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 68 | 4.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 63 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 51 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 41 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 34 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 34 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 28 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Match | 25 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 18 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 127 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Youngstown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 30% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $76,450 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $55,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Youngstown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
125 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 3 | |
| 20-29 | 8 | |
| 30-39 | 36 | |
| 40-49 | 35 | |
| 50-59 | 25 | |
| 60-69 | 4 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,332 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 40.8 mi |
Top 10 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 Youngstown. 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.