In 2025, fire departments serving Versailles responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
274 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $226K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 70 | +59.1% | |
| 2023 | 66 | -5.7% | |
| 2024 | 44 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 50 | +13.6% |
For the 8 building fires Versailles departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | Other | 8 | 14.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 24.6% |
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 Versailles mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 7.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Versailles departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Versailles sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,609 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 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 9.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 10.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 280 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 220 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 10.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 9.7 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 | 47042 | 274 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Versailles. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Versailles.
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.