In 2025, fire departments serving Berne responded to 57 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
255 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $578K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | — | |
| 2022 | 72 | +105.7% | |
| 2023 | 40 | -44.4% | |
| 2024 | 51 | +27.5% | |
| 2025 | 57 | +11.8% |
For the 6 building fires Berne departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 50 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 | 13 | 26.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 14.0% |
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 Berne mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Berne departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Berne sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 115 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 11.2 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 | 46711 | 255 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Berne. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Berne.
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.