In 2025, fire departments serving Winchester responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 56% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
337 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43 | — | |
| 2022 | 85 | +97.7% | |
| 2023 | 73 | -14.1% | |
| 2024 | 90 | +23.3% | |
| 2025 | 46 | -48.9% |
For the 10 building fires Winchester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 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 | 12 | 15.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 28.7% |
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 Winchester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 11 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winchester departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winchester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 40.8 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 | 47394 | 337 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Winchester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Winchester.
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.