In 2025, fire departments serving Bedford responded to 179 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 54% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,039 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 205 | — | |
| 2022 | 183 | -10.7% | |
| 2023 | 206 | +12.6% | |
| 2024 | 266 | +29.1% | |
| 2025 | 179 | -32.7% |
For the 12 building fires Bedford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 216 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 | 62 | 28.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 14 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 11 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Service facilities, other | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 53 | 24.5% |
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 Bedford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 89 | 41.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 31 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 18 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Candle | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 9.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bedford departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bedford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 7 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,015 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 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 36.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 76 | 42.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 15.2 mi |
Top 2 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 Bedford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bedford.
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.