In 2025, fire departments serving Underwood responded to 16 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 75% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
55 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | +85.7% | |
| 2023 | 13 | +0.0% | |
| 2024* | 6 | — | |
| 2025 | 16 | — |
* Well below Underwood'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 4 building fires Underwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 5 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Underwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 93.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Underwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,624 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 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 157 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 48.9 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 | 47177 | 55 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Underwood. 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.