In 2025, fire departments serving Porter responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 78% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
178 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $533K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023* | 10 | — | |
| 2024 | 63 | — | |
| 2025 | 49 | -22.2% |
* Well below Porter'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 4 building fires Porter departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 17.6% |
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 Porter mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 14 | 41.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Porter departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $65,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $65,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $22,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Porter sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,590 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 10.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 9.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 11.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 11.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 10.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 11.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 182 | 8.0 mi |
Top 3 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 Porter. 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.