Home› Counties› OH› Gallia County
2025 County Report

Fires in Gallia County, OH

In 2025, fire departments serving Gallia County responded to 252 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $290K property loss.

6,430 residents FIPS 39053 41 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
252
1,459 across 5 years
Building fires
45
38 wildland
Property loss
$3.4M
$2.1M structure · $1.3M contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.

252
Total Incidents
Building fires 45 17.9%
Power line down 29 11.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 19 7.5%
Authorized controlled burning 15 6.0%
Outside rubbish fire, other 14 5.6%
All other categories 130 51.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Gallia County?

Sep peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 21
Feb 18
Mar 29
Apr 26
May 26
Jun 12
Jul 29
Aug 15
Sep 33
Oct 26
Nov 11
Dec 6
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Gallia County

1,459 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 219
2022 353
2023 306
2024 329
2025 252
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 45 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
47%
41
Cause undetermined
22%
19
Intentional / arson
9%
8
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
11
Under investigation
9%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.6M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Gallia County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 75% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $290,000 Gallipolis Building fires Major
2 $250,000 Cheshire Fires in structures other than in a building Major
3 $200,000 Patriot Building fires Significant
4 $160,000 Vinton Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
5 $145,000 Gallipolis Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
6 $130,000 Patriot Building fires Significant
7 $125,000 Bidwell Building fires Significant
8 $120,000 Bidwell Building fires Significant
9 $75,000 Patriot Building fires Significant
10 $60,000 Gallipolis Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Gallia County compares

Gallia County vs OH vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

39.19
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Gallia County
39.19
OH avg
11.07
US avg
7.15
7
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Gallia County
7
OH avg
1.95
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Gallia County
0
OH avg
10.3
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Gallia County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 39053.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Gallia County

10 departments report from this county.

DELTA COMM FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 26003 78 incidents
WAUSEON FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 26013 62 incidents 1 paid
SWANTON FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 26011 43 incidents 7 paid
Rio Grande Volunteer Fire Depa
Rio Grande
FDID 27011 37 incidents 2 vol
GORHAMFAYETTE FIRE DEPARTMENT
—
FDID 26005 29 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.