In 2025, fire departments serving Bement responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $84K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
107 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $667K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | +23.5% | |
| 2023 | 36 | +71.4% | |
| 2024* | 12 | — | |
| 2025 | 21 | — |
* Well below Bement'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 0 building fires Bement departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | 20 | 55.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 2.8% |
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 Bement mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 72.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bement departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $84,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,500 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bement sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 23 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,059 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 | 200 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 2.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 28.8 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 | 61813 | 107 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Bement. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bement.
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.