In 2025, fire departments serving Cayuga responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
80 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $295K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | — | |
| 2023 | 15 | -28.6% | |
| 2024 | 15 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +33.3% |
* Well below Cayuga'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 4 building fires Cayuga departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Function area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 10.3% |
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 Cayuga mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 27.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cayuga departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cayuga sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 19 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 720 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 | 150 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 23.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 22.6 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 | 47928 | 80 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Cayuga. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cayuga.
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.