In 2025, fire departments serving Ligonier responded to 57 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $495K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Aug peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
427 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | — | |
| 2022 | 92 | +15.0% | |
| 2023 | 98 | +6.5% | |
| 2024 | 100 | +2.0% | |
| 2025 | 57 | -43.0% |
For the 11 building fires Ligonier departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 100 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 | 13 | 13.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 11 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 27.0% |
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 Ligonier mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 6.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 11.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ligonier departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $494,656 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ligonier sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 10 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 360 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 154 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Natural | 22 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 | 48.6 mi |
Top 5 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 Ligonier. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ligonier.
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.