In 2025, fire departments serving Brookston responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
108 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $242K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 30 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | -6.7% | |
| 2024 | 13 | -53.6% | |
| 2025 | 32 | +146.2% |
* Well below Brookston'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 Brookston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 38.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Separate operator/control area of transportation | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 2.9% |
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 Brookston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 67.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brookston departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,704 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brookston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 6 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 180 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 47.2 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 | 47923 | 108 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Brookston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.