In 2025, fire departments serving Blandinsville responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
88 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $383K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | -35.3% | |
| 2023* | 8 | — | |
| 2024 | 23 | — | |
| 2025 | 29 | +26.1% |
* Well below Blandinsville'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 1 building fires Blandinsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | Outside area, other | 9 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 3.4% |
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 Blandinsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 27.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blandinsville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,350 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blandinsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,514 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 50.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 50.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 180 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 174 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 42.6 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 Blandinsville. 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.