In 2025, fire departments serving Lewistown responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K 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 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
210 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | — | |
| 2022 | 37 | +8.8% | |
| 2023 | 37 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 49 | +32.4% | |
| 2025 | 53 | +8.2% |
For the 14 building fires Lewistown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 61 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 | 14 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 13.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 11.5% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 16.4% |
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 Lewistown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 44.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 11.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lewistown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lewistown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,567 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 | 375 | 15.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 4.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 37 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Smoking | 30 | 46.0 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 Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Lewistown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lewistown.
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.