In 2025, fire departments serving Osceola responded to 101 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K 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 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
491 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 122 | — | |
| 2022 | 82 | -32.8% | |
| 2023 | 81 | -1.2% | |
| 2024 | 105 | +29.6% | |
| 2025 | 101 | -3.8% |
For the 37 building fires Osceola departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 126 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 | 30 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 24 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 22.2% |
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 Osceola mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 80 | 63.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Osceola departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Osceola sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 5 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 68 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 16 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 12 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 | 44.3 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 Osceola. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.