In 2025, fire departments serving Petersburg responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $90K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
252 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $882K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53 | — | |
| 2022 | 59 | +11.3% | |
| 2023 | 45 | -23.7% | |
| 2024 | 56 | +24.4% | |
| 2025 | 39 | -30.4% |
For the 7 building fires Petersburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | 12 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 25.5% |
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 Petersburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 30.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 14.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Petersburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $250 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Petersburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,038 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 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 10.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 98 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 80 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 49.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 49.2 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 | 47567 | 252 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Petersburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Petersburg.
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.