In 2025, fire departments serving New Chicago responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
96 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $205K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +12.5% | |
| 2023 | 27 | +50.0% | |
| 2024 | 12 | -55.6% | |
| 2025 | 23 | +91.7% |
For the 9 building fires New Chicago departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | 5 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 10.5% |
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 Chicago mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 42.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 31.6% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 5.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Chicago sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,737 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 3.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 3.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 3.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 4.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 1.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 3.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 3.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 3.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 3.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 3.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 3.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Chicago. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in New Chicago.
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.