In 2025, fire departments serving Lockport responded to 262 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 71% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,185 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $9.9M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 230 | — | |
| 2022 | 209 | -9.1% | |
| 2023 | 219 | +4.8% | |
| 2024 | 265 | +21.0% | |
| 2025 | 262 | -1.1% |
For the 21 building fires Lockport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 168 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 | 43 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 24 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 26.2% |
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 Lockport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 87 | 51.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lockport departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $17,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lockport sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 38.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 37.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 38.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 36.9 mi |
Top 7 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 Lockport. 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.