In 2025, fire departments serving Decatur responded to 107 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $306K 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 48% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
522 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 113 | +31.4% | |
| 2023 | 101 | -10.6% | |
| 2024 | 115 | +13.9% | |
| 2025 | 107 | -7.0% |
For the 15 building fires Decatur departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 152 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 | 27 | 17.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 10 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 9 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 28.3% |
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 Decatur mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 42.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 15.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Decatur departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $306,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $70,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $11,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Decatur sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 7 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 203 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 47.9 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 Decatur. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.