In 2025, fire departments serving Eaton responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 71% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
185 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | +104.2% | |
| 2023 | 31 | -36.7% | |
| 2024 | 32 | +3.2% | |
| 2025 | 49 | +53.1% |
For the 3 building fires Eaton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 32.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 12.1% |
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 Eaton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Eaton departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Eaton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 31.9 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 Eaton. 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.