In 2025, fire departments serving Chandler responded to 52 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
202 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022* | 23 | — | |
| 2023 | 49 | — | |
| 2024 | 51 | +4.1% | |
| 2025 | 52 | +2.0% |
* Well below Chandler'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 Chandler departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | 9 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 7.9% |
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 Chandler mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 39.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chandler departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chandler sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,402 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 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 150 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 135 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 132 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 110 | 36.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Chandler. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Chandler.
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.