2025 State Fire Report

Fires in Ohio

In 2025, fire departments across Ohio responded to 92,154 fire and hazmat incidents — including the OHOTR-FY19-RX-Blausey Spring 2019 WUI wildfire that burned 126 acres in 2019.

8,325,144 residents 88 counties 3,749 reporting cities

National context

Where Ohio sits

Ohio ranks #46 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.

<100k100k+1M+5M+15M+ None on record

Total acres burned (NIFC perimeter history)

Total incidents

92,154

551,284 across 5 years

Building fires

16,233

17.6% of all incidents

Wildland fires

5,767

10 historical perimeters on record

Casualties

86 / 651

86 civ deaths · 436 civ inj · 215 ff inj

01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen in Ohio?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 54% of all calls.

92,154

Total Incidents

Building fires 16,233 17.6%

Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 11,556 12.5%

Power line down 10,848 11.8%

Unauthorized burning 6,291 6.8%

Carbon monoxide incident 4,443 4.8%

All other categories 42,783 46.4%

02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Mar peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)

Jan 7,227

Feb 6,639

Mar 9,750

Apr 9,275

May 8,726

Jun 7,450

Jul 8,452

Aug 7,291

Sep 7,605

Oct 8,489

Nov 7,800

Dec 3,450

03 Smoothed seasonality

Average monthly fires 2021–2025

5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Jun peaks across the window; Dec dips.

Jan 37,603

Feb 37,917

Mar 51,116

Apr 47,902

May 47,479

Jun 51,209

Jul 49,722

Aug 50,238

Sep 45,025

Oct 47,174

Nov 48,482

Dec 37,417

04 Five-year trend

Year over year in Ohio

551,284 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.

Year	Incidents
2021	106,806
2022	113,519
2023	116,476
2024	122,329
2025	92,154

05 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires in Ohio?

For the 16,233 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional

44%

8,763

Cause undetermined

18%

3,568

Intentional / arson

11%

2,262

Equipment / heat source failure

11%

2,080

Under investigation

12%

2,385

Act of nature (lightning)

376

5b Causes by category

Top ignition causes in Ohio

Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.

#	Cause	Incidents	FOD vs NFIRS	Acres
1	Undetermined / missing	38,151	1,358 / 36,793	13,220
2	Arson / incendiarism	19,842	555 / 19,287	5,365
3	Equipment & vehicle use	12,884	279 / 12,605	951
4	Debris & open burning	2,735	2,735 / 0	9,295
5	Natural (lightning)	2,607	35 / 2,572	107
6	Other causes	2,417	57 / 2,360	103
7	Recreation & ceremony	261	261 / 0	549
8	Power generation / utility	219	219 / 0	1,063
9	Smoking	127	127 / 0	395
10	Misuse of fire by a minor	32	32 / 0	37
11	Railroad operations	9	9 / 0	25
12	Fireworks	8	8 / 0	4

5c Topics

Cross-cutting fire topics in Ohio

Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.

#	Topic	Incidents	Loss	Deaths
1	Building fires	132,197	$1.7B	540
2	Electrical / wiring	116,953	$2.3M	0
3	Outdoor fires	107,867	$9.3M	11
4	Gas leaks	100,212	$813K	0
5	Wildland fires	43,092	$4.6M	8
6	Vehicle fires	33,981	$316.6M	92
7	Rubbish / refuse	32,517	$11.1M	3
8	Cooking-related	22,423	$2.4M	0
9	Arson	3,488	$8.2M	1

06 The biggest fires

10 fires · $190.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 36% of Ohio's total.

#	Property loss	City	Type	Severity
1	$99,999,999	Brookville	Building fires	Catastrophic
2	$66,000,000	CLEVELAND HEIGHTS	Building fires	Catastrophic
3	$5,000,000	South Charlesto	Building fires	Catastrophic
4	$5,000,000	Woodville	Road freight or transport vehicle fire	Catastrophic
5	$3,750,000	MASSILLON	Building fires	Major
6	$3,000,000	Worthington	Outside equipment fire	Major
7	$2,000,000	Cleveland Heights	Building fires	Major
8	$2,000,000	UNION	Road freight or transport vehicle fire	Major
9	$2,000,000	Maria Stein	Building fires	Major
10	$2,000,000	Zanesville	Building fires	Major

07 How Ohio compares

Ohio vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare Ohio apples-to-apples to the national average.

11.07

Incidents per 1,000 residents

11.07

US avg

7.48

1.95

Building fires per 1,000 residents

1.95

US avg

0.85

10.3

Civilian fire deaths per million

10.3

US avg

5.9

08 Cities

Top cities in Ohio

12 largest reporting cities by population.

Columbus B+

4,482 incidents 533 building $19.0M loss

Cleveland B-

2,656 incidents 473 building $16.4M loss

Cincinnati B-

2,551 incidents 211 building $9.4M loss

Toledo B

1,848 incidents 327 building $6.3M loss

Akron C+

2,661 incidents 217 building $7.8M loss

Dayton C

2,323 incidents 396 building $4.8M loss

Parma B

632 incidents 43 building $828K loss

Canton C

1,100 incidents 129 building $4.0M loss

Lorain B-

610 incidents 46 building $1.0M loss

Hamilton C+

750 incidents 117 building $1.4M loss

Youngstown C+

746 incidents 93 building $1.2M loss

Springfield C

932 incidents 113 building $2.3M loss

09 Counties

Top counties in Ohio

Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.

#	County	Incidents	Population
1	Cuyahoga County	9,871	1,238,578
2	Franklin County	6,879	1,302,600
3	Hamilton County	6,613	766,311
4	Montgomery County	5,025	441,409
5	Summit County	4,969	479,672
6	Stark County	2,919	206,714
7	Butler County	2,693	232,743
8	Lucas County	2,588	341,477
9	Lorain County	2,524	265,577
10	Lake County	2,363	180,071

10 Per-capita

Highest fire rates by county

Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.

#	County	Inc / 1k	Incidents	Population
1	Clermont County	26.57	1,579	59,417
2	Ashtabula County	23.34	1,292	55,355
3	Columbiana County	19.24	1,053	54,730
4	Portage County	16.68	1,417	84,954
5	Mahoning County	16.62	2,213	133,141
6	Trumbull County	15.97	2,023	126,654
7	Tuscarawas County	15.54	909	58,490
8	Richland County	14.13	1,033	73,103
9	Stark County	14.12	2,919	206,714
10	Delaware County	13.35	892	66,813

11 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Ohio

By incident count in 2025.

COLUMBUS DIVISION OF FIRE

—

FDID 25009 3,729 incidents 1,532 paid

Cleveland Division of Fire

—

FDID 18027 2,564 incidents 999 paid

CINCINNATI FIRE DEPARTMENT

—

FDID 31015 2,075 incidents 800 paid

TOLEDO FIRE DEPARTMENT

—

FDID 48017 1,885 incidents 525 paid

AKRON FIRE DEPARTMENT

—

FDID 77001 1,799 incidents 400 paid

12 Largest fires on record

Top 10 wildfires in Ohio history

By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.

#	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

13 Decade by decade

Wildfire perimeters in Ohio, by decade

47 perimeters and 1,125 acres recorded since 1900.

Decade	Fires	Acres	Activity
2010s	15	537
2020s	32	588

14 Cause shift over time

How wildfire causes have shifted in Ohio

FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.

Decade	Total fires	Share by cause
1990s	212
2000s	1,333
2010s	3,614
2020s	516

Debris and open burning Missing data/not specified/undetermined Arson/incendiarism Equipment and vehicle use Recreation and ceremony Power generation/transmission/distribution Smoking Other

15 Wildfire seasonality

When wildfires ignite in Ohio

FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 5,675 ignitions total.

Jan 94

Feb 465

Mar 1,671

Apr 1,469

May 216

Jun 112

Jul 128

Aug 125

Sep 222

Oct 390

Nov 689

Dec 94

16 Who gets hurt

Casualty demographics in Ohio

5,592 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.

Age	Count
0-9	128
10-19	172
20-29	710
30-39	1,152
40-49	894
50-59	846
60-69	421
70-79	260
80+	127

Civilian vs firefighter

Civilian 3,054 FF 2,538

Gender

M 4,220 F 1,372 Unk 0

Severity (1=minor → 5=fatal)

2,758

901

561

593

667

About this data

State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.