In 2025, fire departments serving Starke County responded to 70 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $50K property loss.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips.
804 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 207 | |
| 2022 | 174 | |
| 2023 | 209 | |
| 2024 | 144 | |
| 2025 | 70 |
For the 16 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Starke County during 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | San Pierre | Building fires | Significant |
| 2 | $50,000 | Town of Hamlet | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $50,000 | Town of Hamlet | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $40,000 | Grovertown | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant |
| 5 | $20,000 | Town of Hamlet | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant |
| 6 | $1,000 | Grovertown | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 18149.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Knox | 3,847 | View › |
| North Judson | 2,100 | View › |
| Koontz Lake | 1,364 | View › |
| Bass Lake | 1,018 | View › |
| Hamlet | 773 | View › |
| San Pierre | 436 | View › |
| Hartz Lake | 260 | View › |
| Grovertown | 196 | View › |
| Ora | 147 | View › |
| Indian Hill | 0 | View › |
| Aldine | 0 | View › |
| Oak Grove | 0 | View › |
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.