In 2025, fire departments serving Wells County responded to 186 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $10.0M property loss.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips.
617 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | |
| 2022 | 96 | |
| 2023 | 82 | |
| 2024 | 204 | |
| 2025 | 186 |
For the 33 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Wells County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | Bluffton | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Bluffton | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $250,000 | Bluffton | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $150,000 | Bluffton | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $60,000 | Ossian | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 6 | $55,000 | Bluffton | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $50,000 | Bluffton | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $30,000 | Bluffton | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $20,000 | Ossian | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $20,000 | Ossian | Fire, other | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 18179.
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.