In 2025, fire departments serving Shoals responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
217 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $520K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022* | 3 | — | |
| 2023 | 41 | — | |
| 2024 | 101 | +146.3% | |
| 2025 | 45 | -55.4% |
* Well below Shoals'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 6 building fires Shoals departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 45 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 | 9 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 15.6% |
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 Shoals mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 24.4% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shoals departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shoals sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,095 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 716 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 418 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 365 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 80 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 76 | 40.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 12.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 36.6 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 | 47581 | 217 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Shoals. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Shoals.
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.