In 2025, fire departments serving Greencastle responded to 129 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
685 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 133 | — | |
| 2022 | 177 | +33.1% | |
| 2023 | 140 | -20.9% | |
| 2024 | 106 | -24.3% | |
| 2025 | 129 | +21.7% |
For the 17 building fires Greencastle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | 16 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 16.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 19.0% |
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 Greencastle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 41.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 13.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Greencastle departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Greencastle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,474 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 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 30 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 22 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 40.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 42.4 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 Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Greencastle. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Greencastle.
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.