In 2025, fire departments serving Peru responded to 175 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
920 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $235K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 165 | — | |
| 2022 | 159 | -3.6% | |
| 2023 | 193 | +21.4% | |
| 2024 | 228 | +18.1% | |
| 2025 | 175 | -23.2% |
For the 17 building fires Peru departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 209 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 | 82 | 39.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 16 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 11 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 19.1% |
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 Peru mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 115 | 55.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Peru departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Peru sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60 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 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 49.5 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 Peru. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Peru.
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.