In 2025, fire departments serving Indian River responded to 234 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 88% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
529 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 98 | — | |
| 2022* | 57 | — | |
| 2023 | 65 | — | |
| 2024 | 75 | +15.4% | |
| 2025 | 234 | +212.0% |
* Well below Indian River'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 8 building fires Indian River departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 94 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 | 17 | 18.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 13 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Incinerator area | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 17.0% |
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 Indian River mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 45.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 6.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Indian River departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Indian River sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,941 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,250 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,900 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 817 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 209 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 115 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 108 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 83 | 34.6 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 | 49749 | 529 |
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Indian River. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Indian River.
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.