In 2025, fire departments serving Lakeland responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $125K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
252 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022 | 68 | +19.3% | |
| 2023 | 34 | -50.0% | |
| 2024 | 43 | +26.5% | |
| 2025 | 50 | +16.3% |
For the 3 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 65 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 21.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 12 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 12.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 9.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 7.7% |
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 | 27 | 41.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 1.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lakeland departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $125,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lakeland sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,608 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,130 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 32.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 891 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 41.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 770 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 636 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 529 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 475 | 41.2 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Tennessee 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.