In 2025, fire departments serving New Castle responded to 205 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
651 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 46 | — | |
| 2022* | 73 | — | |
| 2023* | 46 | — | |
| 2024 | 281 | — | |
| 2025 | 205 | -27.0% |
* Well below New Castle's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 17 building fires New Castle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 181 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 | 42 | 23.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 18 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 38 | 21.0% |
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 New Castle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 103 | 56.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Castle departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Castle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
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 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 49.9 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 New Castle. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in New Castle.
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.