In 2025, fire departments serving Albany responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
49 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $111K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 6 | -33.3% | |
| 2023 | 8 | +33.3% | |
| 2024 | 15 | +87.5% | |
| 2025 | 11 | -26.7% |
For the 0 building fires Albany departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 5 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 | 2 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Conveyor | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 1 | 20.0% |
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 Albany mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 1 | 20.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Albany sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,958 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 75 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 | 16.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 61230 | 49 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Albany. 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.