In 2025, fire departments serving Bartlett responded to 172 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
955 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $24.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 212 | — | |
| 2022 | 208 | -1.9% | |
| 2023 | 171 | -17.8% | |
| 2024 | 192 | +12.3% | |
| 2025 | 172 | -10.4% |
For the 20 building fires Bartlett departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 134 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 17.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 13.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 18 | 13.4% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 37 | 27.6% |
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 Bartlett mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 38.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 17 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 11.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bartlett departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bartlett sits below 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,059 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 7.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 40.8 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 Bartlett. 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.