In 2025, fire departments serving Jasper responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $128K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
182 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | +25.7% | |
| 2023 | 37 | -15.9% | |
| 2024 | 26 | -29.7% | |
| 2025 | 40 | +53.8% |
For the 5 building fires Jasper departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 33.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 3 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Escalator - exterior, interior | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 32.6% |
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 Jasper mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 36 | 39.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jasper departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $128,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $92,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $28,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jasper sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,636 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 716 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 18.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 98 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 80 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 31.8 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 | 47546 | 182 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Jasper. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Jasper.
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.