In 2025, fire departments serving Crawfordsville responded to 106 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
566 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022 | 113 | +43.0% | |
| 2023 | 121 | +7.1% | |
| 2024 | 147 | +21.5% | |
| 2025 | 106 | -27.9% |
For the 10 building fires Crawfordsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 98 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 20 | 20.4% | |
| 3 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 19.4% |
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 Crawfordsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 48 | 49.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Crawfordsville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Crawfordsville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 10 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 485 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 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 36.6 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 | 47933 | 566 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Crawfordsville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Crawfordsville.
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.