In 2025, fire departments serving French Lick responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $112K 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 59% of all calls.
May peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
208 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | +44.1% | |
| 2023 | 41 | -16.3% | |
| 2024 | 52 | +26.8% | |
| 2025 | 32 | -38.5% |
For the 8 building fires French Lick departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 60 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 | 18 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 18.3% |
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 French Lick mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 6 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 1.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by French Lick departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $112,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $105,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $59,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. French Lick sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,582 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 716 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 39.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 45.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 98 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 80 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 76 | 28.1 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 | 47432 | 208 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of French Lick. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in French Lick.
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.