In 2025, fire departments serving Indianola responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
465 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 92 | — | |
| 2022 | 84 | -8.7% | |
| 2023 | 100 | +19.0% | |
| 2024 | 112 | +12.0% | |
| 2025 | 77 | -31.2% |
For the 13 building fires Indianola departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 221 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 | 93 | 42.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 25 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 18.6% |
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 Indianola mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 190 | 86.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 6 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 2 | 0.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 1.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Indianola departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Indianola sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,428 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 473 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 279 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 17.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 41.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 205 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 190 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 188 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 49.1 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Indianola. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Indianola.
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.