In 2025, fire departments serving Selma responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 80% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
148 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $443K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +19.4% | |
| 2023 | 20 | -45.9% | |
| 2024 | 35 | +75.0% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -28.6% |
For the 6 building fires Selma departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 17.2% |
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 Selma mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 41.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Selma departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Selma sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 39.5 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 | 47383 | 148 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Selma. 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.