In 2025, fire departments serving Lakeland responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 87% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
85 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $162K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 15 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 20 | +33.3% | |
| 2024 | 19 | -5.0% | |
| 2025 | 16 | -15.8% |
For the 0 building fires Lakeland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Function area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Lakeland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lakeland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,331 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 8,513 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,550 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,000 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 420 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 336 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 306 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 248 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 217 | 25.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 21.0 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 | 55043 | 85 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Lakeland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.