In 2025, fire departments serving Westville responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
74 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $91K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 15 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 15 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 19 | +26.7% | |
| 2025 | 15 | -21.1% |
For the 4 building fires Westville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 1 | 16.7% |
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 Westville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 1 | 16.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Westville departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Westville sits below 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 | 20.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 19.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 20.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 21.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 19.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 182 | 17.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Westville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Westville.
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.