In 2025, fire departments serving Worthington responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
103 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $82K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022* | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 31 | — | |
| 2024 | 28 | -9.7% | |
| 2025 | 24 | -14.3% |
* Well below Worthington'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 4 building fires Worthington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | Outside area, other | 10 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 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 Worthington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Incendiary device | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Match | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Worthington departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Worthington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,138 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 | 156 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 47 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 40 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 34.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 37 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 44.8 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 | 47471 | 103 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Worthington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.