In 2025, fire departments serving Lancaster responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
87 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $200K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | +37.5% | |
| 2023 | 14 | -36.4% | |
| 2024 | 15 | +7.1% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +33.3% |
For the 3 building fires Lancaster departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Outside area, other | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 30.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 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 Lancaster mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 76.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 1 | 7.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lancaster sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,425 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 100 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 32.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 64 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 27 | 37.3 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Lancaster. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lancaster.
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.