In 2025, fire departments serving Lawrence responded to 153 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $129K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
765 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 120 | — | |
| 2022 | 159 | +32.5% | |
| 2023 | 154 | -3.1% | |
| 2024 | 179 | +16.2% | |
| 2025 | 153 | -14.5% |
For the 21 building fires Lawrence departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 208 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 | 50 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 37 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 13 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 19.7% |
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 Lawrence mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 120 | 57.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 7.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 13 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Match | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lawrence departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 86% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $128,776 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $99,999 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lawrence sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,880 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,549 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 | 40.8 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 Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Lawrence. 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.