In 2025, fire departments serving Zionsville responded to 148 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
766 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 113 | — | |
| 2022 | 148 | +31.0% | |
| 2023 | 168 | +13.5% | |
| 2024 | 189 | +12.5% | |
| 2025 | 148 | -21.7% |
For the 17 building fires Zionsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 167 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 | 32 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 27 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 25 | 15.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 13.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 12.6% |
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 Zionsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 78 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Match | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 15.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Zionsville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Zionsville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,564 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 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 35.2 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 Zionsville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Zionsville.
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.