In 2025, fire departments serving Evansville responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
36 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $103K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | +80.0% | |
| 2023 | 6 | -33.3% | |
| 2024 | 5 | -16.7% | |
| 2025 | 11 | +120.0% |
For the 3 building fires Evansville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | 11 | 73.3% | |
| 2 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Evansville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Evansville departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Evansville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,886 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,855 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,725 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 900 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 847 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 590 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 470 | 25.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 404 | 37.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 360 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 357 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 332 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 326 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 321 | 34.9 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 56326 | 36 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Evansville. 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.