Home› Counties› OH› Fairfield County
2025 County Report

Fires in Fairfield County, OH

In 2025, fire departments serving Fairfield County responded to 1,030 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss.

77,530 residents FIPS 39045 46 cities · 20 fire depts
Total incidents
1,030
5,580 across 5 years
Building fires
268
76 wildland
Property loss
$9.0M
$6.6M structure · $2.4M contents
Casualties
2 / 8
2 civ deaths · 5 civ inj · 3 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.

1,030
Total Incidents
Building fires 268 26.0%
Power line down 131 12.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 130 12.6%
Unauthorized burning 110 10.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 41 4.0%
All other categories 350 34.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Fairfield County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 126
Feb 89
Mar 151
Apr 103
May 76
Jun 65
Jul 78
Aug 48
Sep 84
Oct 71
Nov 102
Dec 37
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Fairfield County

5,580 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,093
2022 1,127
2023 1,198
2024 1,132
2025 1,030
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 268 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
53%
102
Cause undetermined
10%
20
Intentional / arson
10%
19
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
31
Under investigation
10%
20
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $4.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Fairfield County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 66% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 Lancaster Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Major
2 $652,535 LANCASTER Building fires Major
3 $381,970 Lancaster Building fires Major
4 $350,000 Lancaster Building fires Major
5 $324,724 LANCASTER Building fires Major
6 $264,741 LANCASTER Building fires Major
7 $250,000 Pickerington Building fires Major
8 $244,252 LANCASTER Building fires Significant
9 $200,000 Pickerington Building fires Significant
10 $190,000 Carroll Building fires Significant
06 How Fairfield County compares

Fairfield County vs OH vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.29
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Fairfield County
13.29
OH avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
3.46
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Fairfield County
3.46
OH avg
1.95
US avg
0.82
25.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Fairfield County
25.8
OH avg
10.3
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Fairfield County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 39045.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Fairfield County

20 departments report from this county.

LANCASTER FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 23011 298 incidents 81 paid
SANDUSKY FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 22015 179 incidents 57 paid
VIOLET TWP FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 23123 174 incidents 39 paid
PERKINS TWP FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 22115 92 incidents 24 paid
PLEASANT TWP FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 23019 71 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.