In 2025, fire departments serving Muncie responded to 608 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,165 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 501 | — | |
| 2022 | 605 | +20.8% | |
| 2023 | 686 | +13.4% | |
| 2024 | 765 | +11.5% | |
| 2025 | 608 | -20.5% |
For the 84 building fires Muncie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 962 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 | 218 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 146 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 91 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 72 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 68 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 46 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 31 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 24 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 22 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 21 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 223 | 23.2% |
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 Muncie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 538 | 55.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 47 | 4.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 45 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 44 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 41 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 38 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 36 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 20 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 19 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 18 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 116 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Muncie departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 60% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Muncie sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
57 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 6 | |
| 20-29 | 13 | |
| 30-39 | 17 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 7 | |
| 60-69 | 5 | |
| 70-79 | 5 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30 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 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 40.5 mi |
Top 9 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 Muncie. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Muncie.
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.