In 2025, fire departments serving Lebanon responded to 135 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 54% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
767 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $4.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 113 | — | |
| 2022 | 184 | +62.8% | |
| 2023 | 128 | -30.4% | |
| 2024 | 207 | +61.7% | |
| 2025 | 135 | -34.8% |
For the 22 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 148 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 | 23 | 15.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 20 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 27.7% |
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 Lebanon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 83 | 56.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 8.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lebanon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lebanon sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
14 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 21 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 578 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 25 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 20 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 20 | 35.6 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Ohio cities with population within ±25% of Lebanon. 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.