In 2025, fire departments serving Aurora responded to 87 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
330 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $88K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | — | |
| 2022 | 54 | +17.4% | |
| 2023 | 71 | +31.5% | |
| 2024 | 72 | +1.4% | |
| 2025 | 87 | +20.8% |
For the 18 building fires Aurora departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.3% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Aurora mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 42.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Aurora departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Incinerator overload or malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Aurora sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,828 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 74 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 28.3 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47001 | 330 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Aurora. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Aurora.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.