In 2025, fire departments serving Churubusco responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 71% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
211 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $959K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 55 | — | |
| 2023 | 64 | +16.4% | |
| 2024 | 37 | -42.2% | |
| 2025 | 31 | -16.2% |
* Well below Churubusco'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 Churubusco departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 53 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 | 12 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 9 | 17.0% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 11.3% |
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 Churubusco mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 50.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Churubusco departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Churubusco sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 9 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 341 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 34.7 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 | 46723 | 211 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Churubusco. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Churubusco.
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.