In 2025, fire departments serving Ellettsville responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $160K 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 66% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
324 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | +7.6% | |
| 2023 | 57 | -19.7% | |
| 2024 | 72 | +26.3% | |
| 2025 | 58 | -19.4% |
For the 15 building fires Ellettsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 115 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 | Outside area, other | 31 | 27.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 28 | 24.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 15.7% |
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 Ellettsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 56.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ellettsville departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $160,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ellettsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,842 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 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 37.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 40 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 28.9 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 Ellettsville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ellettsville.
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.