In 2025, fire departments serving Avon responded to 236 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,030 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 137 | — | |
| 2022 | 268 | +95.6% | |
| 2023 | 194 | -27.6% | |
| 2024 | 195 | +0.5% | |
| 2025 | 236 | +21.0% |
For the 11 building fires Avon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 212 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 | Undetermined | 50 | 23.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 31 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 19 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 15 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 14 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 16.5% |
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 Avon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 102 | 48.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 11 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Avon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,200 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Avon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 14 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,131 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,549 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 39.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 37 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 50.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 17 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 48.5 mi |
Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Avon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Avon.
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.