In 2025, fire departments serving Byron responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
363 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $829K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 91 | — | |
| 2022 | 58 | -36.3% | |
| 2023 | 82 | +41.4% | |
| 2024 | 72 | -12.2% | |
| 2025 | 60 | -16.7% |
For the 8 building fires Byron departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 92 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 | 18 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 25.0% |
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 Byron mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 10 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 7 | 7.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 14.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Byron departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% 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 | $20,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Byron sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,207 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Smoking | 169 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 10.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 32.4 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 61010 | 363 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Byron. 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.