In 2025, fire departments serving Lane responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $4K 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 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
101 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $79K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | -16.0% | |
| 2023 | 17 | -19.0% | |
| 2024 | 20 | +17.6% | |
| 2025 | 18 | -10.0% |
For the 1 building fires Lane departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 70 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 | Wildland, woods | 23 | 32.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 13 | 18.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 8.6% |
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 Lane mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 41 | 58.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lane departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lane sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,902 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,684 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,150 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,466 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,933 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,922 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,834 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,695 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,630 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,600 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,600 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,247 | 44.6 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 South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Lane. 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.