In 2025, fire departments serving Meadow Lakes responded to 219 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
863 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.7M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 175 | — | |
| 2022 | 170 | -2.9% | |
| 2023 | 162 | -4.7% | |
| 2024 | 137 | -15.4% | |
| 2025 | 219 | +59.9% |
For the 46 building fires Meadow Lakes departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 434 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 | 102 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 76 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 38 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 16 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 13 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 109 | 25.1% |
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 Meadow Lakes mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 209 | 48.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 35 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 24 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 18 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 17 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Match | 17 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 15 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 58 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Meadow Lakes departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $317,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $190,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $190,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $67,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $61,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Meadow Lakes 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 66,878 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Fireworks | 37,336 | 8.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 8,494 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,264 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 3,496 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 3,288 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,692 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,314 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 777 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 461 | 7.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 383 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 367 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 303 | 19.6 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 Alaska cities with population within ±25% of Meadow Lakes. 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.