In 2025, fire departments serving Highland responded to 122 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. 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 67% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
789 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $90K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 104 | — | |
| 2022 | 129 | +24.0% | |
| 2023 | 201 | +55.8% | |
| 2024 | 233 | +15.9% | |
| 2025 | 122 | -47.6% |
For the 16 building fires Highland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 133 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 | Outside area, other | 30 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 16 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 16 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 21.1% |
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 Highland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 63 | 47.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Highland departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Highland sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 9.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 11.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 8.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 9.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 8.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 10.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 8.3 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 Highland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Highland.
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.