In 2025, fire departments serving Lake Lotawana responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $83K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
142 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | — | |
| 2023 | 34 | +25.9% | |
| 2024 | 42 | +23.5% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -28.6% |
* Well below Lake Lotawana's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 1 building fires Lake Lotawana departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 10 | 34.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.4% |
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 Lake Lotawana mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 65.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lake Lotawana departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $83,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Lotawana sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,043 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,654 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,129 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 902 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 649 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 485 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 20.8 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Missouri cities with population within ±25% of Lake Lotawana. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lake Lotawana.
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.