In 2025, fire departments serving Athens responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
165 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $200K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | — | |
| 2023 | 30 | -25.0% | |
| 2024 | 50 | +66.7% | |
| 2025 | 30 | -40.0% |
* Well below Athens'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 8 building fires Athens departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | 6 | 15.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 13.2% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 10.5% |
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 Athens mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 57.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Blasting agent | 1 | 2.6% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Athens sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,589 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 30.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 5.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 25.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 26.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Athens. 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.