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2025 County Report

Fires in Wayne County, IN

In 2025, fire departments serving Wayne County responded to 393 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $200K property loss.

46,409 residents FIPS 18177 27 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
393
2,007 across 5 years
Building fires
57
42 wildland
Property loss
$1.7M
$1.2M structure · $492K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 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 46% of all calls.

393
Total Incidents
Building fires 57 14.5%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 34 8.7%
Unauthorized burning 33 8.4%
Outside rubbish fire, other 29 7.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 29 7.4%
All other categories 211 53.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Wayne County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 30
Feb 40
Mar 56
Apr 51
May 28
Jun 28
Jul 53
Aug 28
Sep 0
Oct 3
Nov 40
Dec 36
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Wayne County

2,007 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 146
2022 498
2023 497
2024 473
2025 393
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 57 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
36%
39
Cause undetermined
27%
29
Intentional / arson
12%
13
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
8
Under investigation
17%
18
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $905K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Wayne County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 73% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $200,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
2 $150,000 Township of Green Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
4 $80,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
5 $80,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
6 $75,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
7 $70,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
8 $60,000 Richmond Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 Richmond Special outside fire, other Significant
10 $40,000 Richmond Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Wayne County compares

Wayne County vs IN vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

8.47
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Wayne County
8.47
IN avg
8.61
US avg
7.15
1.23
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Wayne County
1.23
IN avg
1.26
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Wayne County
0
IN avg
4.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Wayne County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 18177.

CityPopulation 
Richmond 35,642 View ›
Centerville 2,760 View ›
Hagerstown 1,932 View ›
Cambridge City 1,476 View ›
Dublin 961 View ›
Fountain City 773 View ›
Greens Fork 534 View ›
Williamsburg 432 View ›
Spring Grove 427 View ›
Milton 323 View ›
Abington 255 View ›
East Germantown 232 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.