In 2025, fire departments serving Lincoln responded to 271 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,269 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $855K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 198 | — | |
| 2022 | 251 | +26.8% | |
| 2023 | 267 | +6.4% | |
| 2024 | 282 | +5.6% | |
| 2025 | 271 | -3.9% |
For the 36 building fires Lincoln departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 378 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 | Undetermined | 127 | 33.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 66 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 33 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 26 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 25 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 13.0% |
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 Lincoln mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 255 | 67.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 4.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 14 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 40 | 10.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lincoln sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,595 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 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 0.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 24.3 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 Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Lincoln. 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.