In 2025, fire departments serving Evansville responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 68% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
233 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 54 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 51 | -5.6% | |
| 2024 | 37 | -27.5% | |
| 2025 | 37 | +0.0% |
For the 7 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 65 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 | 11 | 16.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 18.5% |
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 | 17 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 8 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Evansville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Evansville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,704 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 2.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 19.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 2.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Smoking | 169 | 1.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 42.0 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Wisconsin cities with population within ±25% of Evansville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Evansville.
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.