In 2025, fire departments serving Sheridan responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100 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 69% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
366 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $415K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022 | 82 | +43.9% | |
| 2023 | 90 | +9.8% | |
| 2024 | 73 | -18.9% | |
| 2025 | 64 | -12.3% |
For the 12 building fires Sheridan departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 119 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 38 | 31.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 31 | 26.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 10.9% |
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 Sheridan mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 75 | 63.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sheridan departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sheridan sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35 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 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 33.6 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 Sheridan. 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.