In 2025, fire departments across Indiana responded to 41,297 fire and hazmat incidents — including the INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 3&4 Spring 2109 WUI wildfire that burned 1,978 acres in 2019.
Indiana ranks #35 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Jul peaks across the window; Feb dips.
216,392 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38,492 | |
| 2022 | 40,044 | |
| 2023 | 46,748 | |
| 2024 | 49,811 | |
| 2025 | 41,297 |
For the 6,045 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined / missing | 16,127 | 501 / 15,626 | 7,408 | |
| 2 | Arson / incendiarism | 8,969 | 266 / 8,703 | 3,799 | |
| 3 | Equipment & vehicle use | 5,294 | 108 / 5,186 | 415 | |
| 4 | Natural (lightning) | 1,099 | 60 / 1,039 | 310 | |
| 5 | Debris & open burning | 539 | 539 / 0 | 2,003 | |
| 6 | Other causes | 404 | 18 / 386 | 9 | |
| 7 | Recreation & ceremony | 306 | 306 / 0 | 530 | |
| 8 | Railroad operations | 258 | 258 / 0 | 4,492 | |
| 9 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 61 | 61 / 0 | 136 | |
| 10 | Smoking | 60 | 60 / 0 | 225 | |
| 11 | Fireworks | 56 | 56 / 0 | 91 | |
| 12 | Power generation / utility | 42 | 42 / 0 | 66 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outdoor fires | 48,570 | $4.2M | 4 | |
| 2 | Building fires | 46,478 | $647.7M | 97 | |
| 3 | Gas leaks | 39,834 | $61K | 0 | |
| 4 | Electrical / wiring | 33,322 | $527K | 0 | |
| 5 | Rubbish / refuse | 21,915 | $2.2M | 0 | |
| 6 | Wildland fires | 21,571 | $2.6M | 4 | |
| 7 | Vehicle fires | 15,385 | $127.3M | 20 | |
| 8 | Cooking-related | 7,189 | $1.0M | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 7,130 | $14.8M | 0 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 28% of Indiana's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000,000 | Collegeville Census | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $10,000,000 | Bluffton | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 3 | $9,000,000 | Indianapolis | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 4 | $4,000,000 | Terre Haute | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $3,000,000 | Indianapolis | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $1,500,000 | Terre Haute | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $1,000,000 | Goshen | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $1,000,000 | City of Marion | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $1,000,000 | City of Seymour | Building fires | Major |
| 10 | $1,000,000 | Indianapolis | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Indiana apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marion County | 6,493 | 969,238 |
| 2 | Lake County | 2,741 | 464,551 |
| 3 | Allen County | 1,984 | 299,638 |
| 4 | Vanderburgh County | 1,815 | 121,615 |
| 5 | St. Joseph County | 1,776 | 203,756 |
| 6 | Hendricks County | 1,352 | 104,887 |
| 7 | Tippecanoe County | 1,272 | 124,765 |
| 8 | Elkhart County | 1,224 | 118,020 |
| 9 | Madison County | 1,062 | 87,417 |
| 10 | Delaware County | 1,007 | 84,765 |
Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanderburgh County | 14.92 | 1,815 | 121,615 | |
| 2 | Hendricks County | 12.89 | 1,352 | 104,887 | |
| 3 | Vigo County | 12.45 | 892 | 71,639 | |
| 4 | Madison County | 12.15 | 1,062 | 87,417 | |
| 5 | Bartholomew County | 12.01 | 704 | 58,633 | |
| 6 | Delaware County | 11.88 | 1,007 | 84,765 | |
| 7 | Elkhart County | 10.37 | 1,224 | 118,020 | |
| 8 | Monroe County | 10.24 | 920 | 89,870 | |
| 9 | Tippecanoe County | 10.20 | 1,272 | 124,765 | |
| 10 | LaPorte County | 9.99 | 714 | 71,458 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | 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 |
559 perimeters and 15,420 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 101 | 2,167 | |
| 1990s | 213 | 1,497 | |
| 2000s | 118 | 1,002 | |
| 2010s | 77 | 7,090 | |
| 2020s | 50 | 3,664 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 669 | |
| 2000s | 1,201 | |
| 2010s | 375 | |
| 2020s | 32 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 2,277 ignitions total.
1,105 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 34 | |
| 10-19 | 40 | |
| 20-29 | 208 | |
| 30-39 | 276 | |
| 40-49 | 209 | |
| 50-59 | 174 | |
| 60-69 | 84 | |
| 70-79 | 55 | |
| 80+ | 25 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.