In 2025, fire departments serving Bicknell responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
196 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $423K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 16 | — | |
| 2023 | 82 | — | |
| 2024 | 57 | -30.5% | |
| 2025 | 40 | -29.8% |
* Well below Bicknell's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 7 building fires Bicknell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | 12 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 12 | 21.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 10 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 12.7% |
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 Bicknell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 49.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Incendiary device | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 14.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bicknell departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bicknell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,783 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 716 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 80 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 43 | 39.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 40 | 45.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Bicknell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bicknell.
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.