In 2025, fire departments serving Columbia City responded to 105 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 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
558 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 66 | — | |
| 2022 | 129 | — | |
| 2023 | 118 | -8.5% | |
| 2024 | 140 | +18.6% | |
| 2025 | 105 | -25.0% |
* Well below Columbia City'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 11 building fires Columbia City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 155 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 | Outside area, other | 28 | 18.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 53 | 34.2% |
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 Columbia City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 42.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 8 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 14.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Columbia City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 8 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 177 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 33.9 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 Columbia City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Columbia City.
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.