In 2025, fire departments serving Dyer responded to 105 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
549 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 98 | — | |
| 2022 | 142 | +44.9% | |
| 2023 | 99 | -30.3% | |
| 2024 | 105 | +6.1% | |
| 2025 | 105 | +0.0% |
For the 17 building fires Dyer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | 22 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 19.7% |
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 Dyer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 1.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dyer departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dyer sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 13.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 15.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 12.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 12.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 14.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 12.4 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 Dyer. 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.