In 2025, fire departments serving Rising Sun responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 87% of all calls.
May peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
170 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | -21.6% | |
| 2023 | 47 | +62.1% | |
| 2024 | 33 | -29.8% | |
| 2025 | 24 | -27.3% |
For the 11 building fires Rising Sun departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 14.8% |
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 Rising Sun mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 29.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 7 | Incendiary device | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rising Sun sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,818 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 74 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 30.7 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 Rising Sun. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rising Sun.
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.