In 2025, fire departments serving Lewiston responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
180 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $27K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +42.3% | |
| 2023 | 30 | -18.9% | |
| 2024 | 46 | +53.3% | |
| 2025 | 41 | -10.9% |
For the 4 building fires Lewiston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.0% |
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 Lewiston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lewiston departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lewiston sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 4 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 47 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 16 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 10 | 2.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 | 2.5 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 | 14092 | 180 |
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Lewiston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lewiston.
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.