In 2025, fire departments serving Shelbyville responded to 159 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $180K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
832 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.9M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 145 | — | |
| 2022 | 172 | +18.6% | |
| 2023 | 164 | -4.7% | |
| 2024 | 192 | +17.1% | |
| 2025 | 159 | -17.2% |
For the 16 building fires Shelbyville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 259 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 | 58 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 31 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 22 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 63 | 24.3% |
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 Shelbyville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 131 | 50.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 14 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 13.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shelbyville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shelbyville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,173 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,549 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 74 | 41.9 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 Shelbyville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Shelbyville.
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.