In 2025, fire departments serving Benton responded to 262 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,194 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 162 | — | |
| 2022 | 229 | +41.4% | |
| 2023 | 270 | +17.9% | |
| 2024 | 271 | +0.4% | |
| 2025 | 262 | -3.3% |
For the 42 building fires Benton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 538 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 | 145 | 27.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 119 | 22.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 69 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 11 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Other | 8 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 105 | 19.5% |
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 Benton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 370 | 68.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 3.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 17 | 3.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 14 | 2.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 11 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 10 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 9 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 8 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 55 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Benton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Benton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,160 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 23.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 409 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 177 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 176 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 129 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 115 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 115 | 40.7 mi |
Top 7 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 Benton. 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.