In 2025, fire departments serving Lawton responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
85 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $346K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | — | |
| 2023* | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | 20 | — | |
| 2025 | 27 | +35.0% |
* Well below Lawton'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 7 building fires Lawton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 26.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Lawton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 4 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lawton departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lawton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,649 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,100 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 800 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Fireworks | 680 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 650 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 600 | 39.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 582 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 560 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 480 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 470 | 26.8 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 | 51030 | 85 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Lawton. 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.