In 2025, fire departments serving Lakewood responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 92% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
92 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $292K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | -25.9% | |
| 2023 | 24 | +20.0% | |
| 2024* | 8 | — | |
| 2025 | 13 | — |
* Well below Lakewood'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 0 building fires Lakewood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Lakewood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 81.8% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lakewood sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,684 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 41.2 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Lakewood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lakewood.
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.