In 2025, fire departments serving Carterville responded to 102 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $248K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
382 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | +48.2% | |
| 2023 | 78 | -6.0% | |
| 2024 | 63 | -19.2% | |
| 2025 | 102 | +61.9% |
For the 9 building fires Carterville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 111 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 | 20 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 15 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 11 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 24.3% |
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 Carterville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Match | 12 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 7 | 6.3% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 16.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Carterville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $248,460 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $70,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $24,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Carterville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,531 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 409 | 21.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 245 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 177 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 176 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 129 | 34.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Carterville. 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.