In 2025, fire departments serving Munster responded to 165 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $140K 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
846 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 163 | — | |
| 2022 | 179 | +9.8% | |
| 2023 | 151 | -15.6% | |
| 2024 | 188 | +24.5% | |
| 2025 | 165 | -12.2% |
For the 36 building fires Munster departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 68 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 | 18 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 6 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 22.1% |
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 Munster mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 14.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Munster departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $11,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Munster sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 12.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 12.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 13.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 10.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 12.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 12.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 11.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 12.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 10.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Munster. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Munster.
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.