In 2025, fire departments serving Zanesville responded to 472 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,732 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $11.5M cumulative property loss. 6 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 461 | — | |
| 2022 | 617 | +33.8% | |
| 2023 | 606 | -1.8% | |
| 2024 | 576 | -5.0% | |
| 2025 | 472 | -18.1% |
For the 75 building fires Zanesville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 612 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 | 129 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 97 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 56 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 37 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 31 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 18 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 16 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 14 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 14 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 13 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 187 | 30.6% |
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 Zanesville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 262 | 42.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 57 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 51 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 49 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 39 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 25 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 24 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 18 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 13 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 12 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 62 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Zanesville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 80% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $275,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $180,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $150,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Zanesville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,324 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 131 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 53 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 12.0 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 Zanesville. 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.