In 2025, fire departments serving Danville responded to 215 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
728 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 97 | — | |
| 2022 | 136 | +40.2% | |
| 2023 | 118 | -13.2% | |
| 2024 | 162 | +37.3% | |
| 2025 | 215 | +32.7% |
For the 16 building fires Danville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 128 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 | 36 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 15 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Other | 10 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 21.1% |
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 Danville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 44.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 10 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Danville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Power line down | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Danville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 11 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,032 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,549 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 34.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 37 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 13 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 48.3 mi |
Top 5 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 Danville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Danville.
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.