In 2025, fire departments serving Alton responded to 444 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $62K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,109 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.9M cumulative property loss. 6 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 423 | — | |
| 2022 | 349 | -17.5% | |
| 2023 | 430 | +23.2% | |
| 2024 | 463 | +7.7% | |
| 2025 | 444 | -4.1% |
For the 37 building fires Alton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 847 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 | 199 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 101 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 98 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 75 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 66 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 25 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 22 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 19 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Other | 17 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 206 | 24.3% |
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 Alton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 411 | 48.5% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 71 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 52 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 43 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 42 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 40 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 34 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 20 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 19 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 18 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 97 | 11.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 53% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $62,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,708 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 43 | 49.0 mi |
Top 8 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 Alton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Alton.
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.