In 2025, fire departments serving Cedar Lake responded to 139 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
717 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 166 | — | |
| 2022 | 149 | -10.2% | |
| 2023 | 124 | -16.8% | |
| 2024 | 139 | +12.1% | |
| 2025 | 139 | +0.0% |
For the 43 building fires Cedar Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 16.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 30.0% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Cedar Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 47.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cedar Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $800 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cedar Lake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 18.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 19.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 16.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 17.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 18.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 17.4 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Cedar Lake. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cedar Lake.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.