In 2025, fire departments serving Sellersburg responded to 80 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 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
427 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 71 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | +35.2% | |
| 2023 | 92 | -4.2% | |
| 2024 | 88 | -4.3% | |
| 2025 | 80 | -9.1% |
For the 31 building fires Sellersburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 121 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 | 46 | 38.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 14.0% |
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 Sellersburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 61 | 50.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 32 | 26.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 6.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sellersburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,545 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 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 144 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 45.6 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 | 47172 | 427 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Sellersburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sellersburg.
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.