In 2025, fire departments serving Owensville responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K 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 57% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
83 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $70K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022* | 9 | — | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 47 | — | |
| 2025 | 14 | -70.2% |
* Well below Owensville'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 2 building fires Owensville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 5.0% |
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 Owensville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Owensville departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Owensville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,744 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 716 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 80 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 65 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 43.5 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 Owensville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Owensville.
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.