In 2025, fire departments serving Patoka responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
89 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $58K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 25 | +127.3% | |
| 2024 | 32 | +28.0% | |
| 2025 | 11 | -65.6% |
* Well below Patoka'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 0 building fires Patoka departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Closet | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Patoka mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Patoka departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Patoka sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,716 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 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 80 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 65 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 47 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 45 | 41.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47666 | 89 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Patoka. 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.