In 2025, fire departments serving Kouts responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
201 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $254K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | +8.3% | |
| 2023 | 53 | +35.9% | |
| 2024 | 35 | -34.0% | |
| 2025 | 38 | +8.6% |
For the 6 building fires Kouts departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 81 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 31 | 38.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 17.3% |
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 Kouts mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 27 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 12.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kouts sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,590 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 23.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 23.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 22.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 24.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 182 | 22.8 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 Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Kouts. 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.