In 2025, fire departments serving Harlan responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K 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 62% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
38 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 18 | — | |
| 2025 | 13 | -27.8% |
* Well below Harlan'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 Harlan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 17 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 | 5 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 17.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 5.9% |
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 Harlan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 35.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harlan departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,800 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harlan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 9 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 372 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 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 40.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Harlan. 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.