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2025 County Report

Fires in Shelby County, IN

In 2025, fire departments serving Shelby County responded to 228 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $180K property loss.

24,514 residents FIPS 18145 35 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
228
1,302 across 5 years
Building fires
28
30 wildland
Property loss
$827K
$570K structure · $257K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.

228
Total Incidents
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 29 12.7%
Building fires 28 12.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 27 11.8%
Passenger vehicle fire 14 6.1%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 10 4.4%
All other categories 120 52.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Shelby County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 22
Feb 9
Mar 35
Apr 31
May 24
Jun 23
Jul 25
Aug 19
Sep 0
Oct 1
Nov 29
Dec 10
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Shelby County

1,302 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 260
2022 276
2023 263
2024 275
2025 228
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 28 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
56%
29
Cause undetermined
8%
4
Intentional / arson
12%
6
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
4
Under investigation
13%
7
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $515K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $180,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
2 $125,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
3 $75,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
4 $30,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
5 $25,000 Waldron Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $25,000 Shelbyville Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $20,000 Morristown Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $15,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
9 $10,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
10 $10,000 Shelbyville Building fires Significant
06 How Shelby County compares

Shelby County vs IN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

9.3
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Shelby County
9.3
IN avg
8.61
US avg
7.15
1.14
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Shelby County
1.14
IN avg
1.26
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Shelby County
0
IN avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Shelby County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 18145.

CityPopulation 
Shelbyville 19,678 View ›
Morristown 1,083 View ›
Waldron 819 View ›
Pleasant View 651 View ›
Fairland 639 View ›
Boggstown 560 View ›
Gwynneville 354 View ›
Flat Rock 253 View ›
Marietta 151 View ›
Blue Ridge 137 View ›
Fountaintown 137 View ›
London 52 View ›
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).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 3&4 Spring 2109 WUI 2019 FWS 1,977
2 INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 8 Spring 2109 NonWUI 2019 FWS 769
3 OGDEN DUNS 1986 NPS 556
4 21-INDU Tolleston Dunes East 2021 NPS 550
5 Miller 3 Wildfire 2021 NPS 424
6 INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 5&41 Spring 2109 NonWUI 2019 FWS 419
7 INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 28&29 PGM Spring 2109 NonWUI 2019 FWS 410
8 INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 31 North Spring 2109 NonWUI 2019 FWS 400
9 23 Tolleston Dunes West RX BIL 2023 NPS 335
10 22-INDU Derby Ditch 2021 NPS 327

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.