In 2025, fire departments serving Big Rock responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400 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 56% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
156 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $550K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022* | 15 | — | |
| 2023 | 38 | — | |
| 2024 | 57 | +50.0% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -56.1% |
* Well below Big Rock'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 6 building fires Big Rock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 49 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 20.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 8.2% |
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 Big Rock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 30.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Match | 6 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Big Rock departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Big Rock sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,655 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 39.1 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 Big Rock. 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.