In 2025, fire departments serving Canton responded to 201 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
915 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 170 | — | |
| 2022 | 163 | -4.1% | |
| 2023 | 186 | +14.1% | |
| 2024 | 195 | +4.8% | |
| 2025 | 201 | +3.1% |
For the 21 building fires Canton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 176 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 | 27 | 15.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 23 | 13.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 23.9% |
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 Canton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 68 | 38.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 15 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 31 | 17.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Canton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $18,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Canton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,472 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 | 375 | 15.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 16.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 37 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 13.8 mi |
Top 6 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 Canton. 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.