In 2025, fire departments serving Lebanon responded to 173 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $404K 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 66% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
519 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66 | — | |
| 2022 | 95 | +43.9% | |
| 2023 | 91 | -4.2% | |
| 2024 | 94 | +3.3% | |
| 2025 | 173 | +84.0% |
For the 35 building fires Lebanon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 51 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 | 12 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 15.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 7 | 13.7% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Conveyor | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 17.6% |
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 Lebanon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 13.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 9.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Candle | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lebanon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $404,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $85,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lebanon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,460 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 48.4 mi |
Top 4 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 Lebanon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lebanon.
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.