In 2025, fire departments serving Ashmore responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
80 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $730K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | +61.5% | |
| 2024 | 13 | -38.1% | |
| 2025 | 27 | +107.7% |
* Well below Ashmore's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 9 building fires Ashmore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 15 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 | 5 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 6.7% |
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 Ashmore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 60.0% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Other static discharge | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ashmore departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ashmore sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 18 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 716 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 14 | 45.1 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 | 61912 | 80 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Ashmore. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ashmore.
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.