In 2025, fire departments serving Bridgeview responded to 167 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 62% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
851 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 179 | — | |
| 2022 | 137 | -23.5% | |
| 2023 | 143 | +4.4% | |
| 2024 | 225 | +57.3% | |
| 2025 | 167 | -25.8% |
For the 39 building fires Bridgeview departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 151 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 11.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Equipment or service area, other | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 58 | 38.4% |
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 Bridgeview mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 60 | 39.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 19 | 12.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 17 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bridgeview departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $22,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bridgeview sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,291 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 29.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 28.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 27.6 mi |
Top 5 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 Bridgeview. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bridgeview.
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.