In 2025, fire departments serving Roachdale responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $152K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
147 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $522K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | — | |
| 2023 | 37 | +42.3% | |
| 2024 | 39 | +5.4% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -23.1% |
* Well below Roachdale'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 9 building fires Roachdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | 7 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 11.5% |
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 Roachdale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Roachdale departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $152,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $9,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Roachdale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 6 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 325 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 46.5 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 | 46172 | 147 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Roachdale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Roachdale.
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.