In 2025, fire departments serving Clinton responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. 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 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
254 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $592K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022* | 25 | — | |
| 2023 | 56 | — | |
| 2024 | 72 | +28.6% | |
| 2025 | 59 | -18.1% |
* Well below Clinton'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 8 building fires Clinton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 59 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 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 30.5% |
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 Clinton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 30.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 20.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 3 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clinton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clinton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 16 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 590 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 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 39.5 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 Clinton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clinton.
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.