In 2025, fire departments serving Lake County responded to 2,741 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $750K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips.
16,565 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,498 | |
| 2022 | 3,018 | |
| 2023 | 3,817 | |
| 2024 | 3,491 | |
| 2025 | 2,741 |
For the 473 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Lake County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 56% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Merrillville | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $400,000 | Lakes of the Four Se | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $250,000 | Lake Station | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $200,000 | Merrillville | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $150,000 | Schererville | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $140,000 | Town of Munster | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $125,000 | Town of Munster | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $100,000 | Cedar Lake | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $100,000 | Town of Munster | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $100,000 | Merrillville | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 18089.
3 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 3&4 Spring 2109 WUI | 2019 | FWS | 1,977 |
| 2 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 8 Spring 2109 NonWUI | 2019 | FWS | 769 |
| 3 | OGDEN DUNS | 1986 | NPS | 556 |
| 4 | 21-INDU Tolleston Dunes East | 2021 | NPS | 550 |
| 5 | Miller 3 Wildfire | 2021 | NPS | 424 |
| 6 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 5&41 Spring 2109 NonWUI | 2019 | FWS | 419 |
| 7 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 28&29 PGM Spring 2109 NonWUI | 2019 | FWS | 410 |
| 8 | INBOR-FY19-RX-Unit 31 North Spring 2109 NonWUI | 2019 | FWS | 400 |
| 9 | 23 Tolleston Dunes West RX BIL | 2023 | NPS | 335 |
| 10 | 22-INDU Derby Ditch | 2021 | NPS | 327 |
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.