In 2025, fire departments serving Erie County responded to 422 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips.
2,984 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 578 | |
| 2022 | 628 | |
| 2023 | 742 | |
| 2024 | 614 | |
| 2025 | 422 |
For the 59 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Erie County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 90% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | MARGARETTA | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $350,000 | HURON | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $250,000 | Berlin | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major |
| 4 | $175,000 | HURON | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $100,000 | PERKINS | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant |
| 6 | $75,000 | SANDUSKY | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $60,000 | SANDUSKY | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $59,000 | Sandusky | Water vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $30,000 | MARGARETTA | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant |
| 10 | $30,000 | MARGARETTA | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 39043.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Sandusky | 24,964 | View › |
| Huron | 6,882 | View › |
| Milan | 1,855 | View › |
| Castalia | 1,108 | View › |
| Berlin Heights | 731 | View › |
| Bay View | 710 | View › |
| Whites Landing | 384 | View › |
| Mitiwanga | 249 | View › |
| Kelleys Island | 221 | View › |
| Birmingham | 118 | View › |
| Crystal Rock | 108 | View › |
| Bloomingville | 89 | View › |
16 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.