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2025 County Report

Fires in Athens County, OH

In 2025, fire departments serving Athens County responded to 868 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss.

35,737 residents FIPS 39009 73 cities · 1 fire depts
Total incidents
868
4,932 across 5 years
Building fires
190
71 wildland
Property loss
$5.0M
$3.8M structure · $1.2M contents
Casualties
0 / 3
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 2 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.

868
Total Incidents
Building fires 190 21.9%
Power line down 127 14.6%
Accident, potential accident, other 73 8.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 62 7.1%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 37 4.3%
All other categories 379 43.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Athens County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 64
Feb 101
Mar 113
Apr 97
May 97
Jun 40
Jul 83
Aug 53
Sep 64
Oct 69
Nov 59
Dec 28
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Athens County

4,932 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 945
2022 1,005
2023 1,084
2024 1,030
2025 868
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 190 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
43%
81
Cause undetermined
20%
37
Intentional / arson
23%
43
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
10
Under investigation
6%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $3.2M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Athens County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 84% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Albany Fires in structures other than in a building Major
2 $683,000 Nelsonville Building fires Major
3 $520,000 Glouster Building fires Major
4 $250,000 Amesville Building fires Major
5 $150,000 Amesville Building fires Significant
6 $144,000 Albany Building fires Significant
7 $140,000 Coolville Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 Millfield Building fires Significant
9 $100,000 Albany Building fires Significant
10 $100,000 Athens Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
06 How Athens County compares

Athens County vs OH vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

24.29
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Athens County
24.29
OH avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
5.32
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Athens County
5.32
OH avg
1.95
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Athens County
0
OH avg
10.3
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Athens County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 39009.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Athens County

1 departments report from this county.

CARTHAGE TWP FD
Coolville
FDID 05300 20 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in OH

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 OHOTR-FY19-RX-Blausey Spring 2019 WUI 2019 FWS 125
2 Little Storm Creek 2020 USFS 122
3 GREEN 2015 USFS 109
4 THIRTEEN 2018 USFS 105
5 Terra Vista Prescribe Fire 2021 NPS 79
6 Lawco 2023 USFS 61
7 128 2021 USFS 51
8 FY23 NERI RX Burns 2022 NPS 40
9 Rock Hollow 2023 USFS 29
10 HOADLEY 2018 USFS 24

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.