In 2025, fire departments serving Bethany responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K 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 65% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
92 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $776K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | — | |
| 2023 | 15 | -21.1% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +120.0% | |
| 2025 | 17 | -48.5% |
* Well below Bethany'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 5 building fires Bethany departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 13.0% |
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 Bethany mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 26.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 21.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bethany departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bethany sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,215 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 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 39.9 mi |
Top 3 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 Bethany. 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.