In 2025, fire departments serving Lake Station responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
508 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 95 | — | |
| 2022 | 125 | +31.6% | |
| 2023 | 98 | -21.6% | |
| 2024 | 104 | +6.1% | |
| 2025 | 86 | -17.3% |
For the 7 building fires Lake Station departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 182 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 | 49 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 35 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 15 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 15.4% |
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 Station mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 85 | 46.7% | |
| 2 | Match | 13 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lake Station departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $11,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Station sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,737 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 2.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 2.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 2.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 2.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 1.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 2.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 2.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 3.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 2.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 3.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 3.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 46405 | 508 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Lake Station. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lake Station.
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.