In 2025, fire departments serving Lynwood responded to 149 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 65% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
529 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 97 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | -1.0% | |
| 2023 | 82 | -14.6% | |
| 2024 | 105 | +28.0% | |
| 2025 | 149 | +41.9% |
For the 28 building fires Lynwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 115 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 | Outside area, other | 31 | 27.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 15.7% |
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 Lynwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 65 | 56.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Match | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lynwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lynwood 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 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 15.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 16.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 13.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 13.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 15.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 13.4 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 Lynwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lynwood.
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.