In 2025, fire departments serving Garrett responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
112 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $356K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | — | |
| 2023* | 10 | — | |
| 2024 | 55 | — | |
| 2025 | 17 | -69.1% |
* Well below Garrett's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Garrett departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Closet | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 10.7% |
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 Garrett mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 46.4% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 10.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Garrett sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 11 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 365 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 6.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 22 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 6.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 43.6 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 | 46738 | 112 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Garrett. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Garrett.
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.