In 2025, fire departments serving Lowell responded to 54 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Lowell's departments reported 54 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 104 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
520 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 162 | — | |
| 2022 | 134 | -17.3% | |
| 2023 | 75 | -44.0% | |
| 2024 | 95 | +26.7% | |
| 2025* | 54 | — |
* Well below Lowell'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 27 building fires Lowell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | 15 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 17.9% |
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 Lowell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 51.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lowell sits below 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 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 22.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 23.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 20.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 22.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 23.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 22.2 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Lowell. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lowell.
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.