In 2025, fire departments serving Wanatah responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
111 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $616K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | +11.1% | |
| 2023 | 29 | +45.0% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -17.2% | |
| 2025 | 20 | -16.7% |
For the 0 building fires Wanatah departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 29.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.7% |
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 Wanatah mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 40.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 14.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wanatah departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wanatah sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,590 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 23.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 22.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 23.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 182 | 21.5 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 | 46390 | 111 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Wanatah. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wanatah.
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.