In 2025, fire departments serving Middletown responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 95% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
110 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $170K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | -5.3% | |
| 2023 | 20 | +11.1% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +65.0% | |
| 2025 | 20 | -39.4% |
For the 10 building fires Middletown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | 4 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Middletown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Middletown departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Middletown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 1 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 36.7 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 | 47356 | 110 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Middletown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Middletown.
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.