In 2025, fire departments serving Whiteland responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
329 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | — | |
| 2023 | 109 | +94.6% | |
| 2024 | 96 | -11.9% | |
| 2025 | 51 | -46.9% |
* Well below Whiteland'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 5 building fires Whiteland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 88 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 | 16 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 14 | 15.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 11 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 17.0% |
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 Whiteland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 46 | 52.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 11.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Whiteland departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Accident, potential accident, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Whiteland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,489 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 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 36.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 40 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 37 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 34 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 30 | 42.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Whiteland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Whiteland.
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.