In 2025, fire departments serving Burns Harbor responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 83% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
67 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $25K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | -18.2% | |
| 2023 | 15 | +66.7% | |
| 2024 | 20 | +33.3% | |
| 2025 | 12 | -40.0% |
For the 0 building fires Burns Harbor departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Burns Harbor mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 7.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Burns Harbor sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,590 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 8.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 8.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 8.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 6.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 9.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 8.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 9.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 7.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 8.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 182 | 5.6 mi |
Top 4 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 Burns Harbor. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Burns Harbor.
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.