In 2025, fire departments serving Lee responded to 90 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 51% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
162 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $46K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023* | 4 | — | |
| 2024 | 56 | — | |
| 2025 | 90 | +60.7% |
* Well below Lee'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 1 building fires Lee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Lee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 38.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Match | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lee departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,594 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Smoking | 50 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 25.6 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 New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Lee. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lee.
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.