In 2025, fire departments serving Lancaster responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
120 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $847K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +7.7% | |
| 2023 | 18 | -35.7% | |
| 2024 | 20 | +11.1% | |
| 2025 | 28 | +40.0% |
For the 5 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 34 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 | Other | 12 | 35.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 14.7% |
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 | Heat source: other | 12 | 35.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lancaster departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $109,400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
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. 3,555 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 18.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 104 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 100 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 33.1 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 | 53813 | 120 |
Six Wisconsin 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.