In 2025, fire departments serving Bourbon responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
94 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $346K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | — | |
| 2024 | 30 | +7.1% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -56.7% |
* Well below Bourbon'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 6 building fires Bourbon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Entrance way, lobby | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 13.6% |
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 Bourbon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 4.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bourbon sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 67 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 38.3 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 | 46504 | 94 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Bourbon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bourbon.
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.