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2025 County Report

Fires in Adams County, IN

In 2025, fire departments serving Adams County responded to 197 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $306K property loss.

15,887 residents FIPS 18001 15 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
197
926 across 5 years
Building fires
31
15 wildland
Property loss
$926K
$732K structure · $195K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.

197
Total Incidents
Building fires 31 15.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 29 14.7%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 27 13.7%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 10 5.1%
Carbon monoxide incident 9 4.6%
All other categories 91 46.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Adams County?

Nov peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 18
Feb 15
Mar 18
Apr 20
May 18
Jun 25
Jul 16
Aug 15
Sep 0
Oct 3
Nov 33
Dec 16
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Adams County

926 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 136
2022 229
2023 169
2024 195
2025 197
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 31 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
70%
31
Cause undetermined
7%
3
Intentional / arson
9%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
2
Under investigation
9%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $662K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Adams County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 90% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $306,000 Decatur Building fires Major
2 $100,000 Decatur Building fires Significant
3 $80,000 Decatur Building fires Significant
4 $70,000 Decatur Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
5 $20,000 Decatur Building fires Significant
6 $20,000 Decatur Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $20,000 Decatur Building fires Significant
8 $20,000 Town of Geneva Building fires Significant
9 $15,000 Linn Grove Building fires Significant
10 $11,000 City of Decatur Fire, other Significant
06 How Adams County compares

Adams County vs IN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

12.4
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Adams County
12.4
IN avg
8.61
US avg
7.15
1.95
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Adams County
1.95
IN avg
1.26
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Adams County
0
IN avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Adams County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 18001.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Adams County

4 departments report from this county.

Decatur FD
—
FDID 01003 89 incidents 7 paid
Berne VFD
BERNE
FDID 01001 71 incidents
Geneva VFD
Geneva
FDID 01004 13 incidents
Monroe Rural VFD
—
FDID 01005 8 incidents 36 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in IN

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.