In 2025, fire departments serving Chadwick responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 89% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
82 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $169K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | +83.3% | |
| 2023 | 13 | -40.9% | |
| 2024 | 17 | +30.8% | |
| 2025 | 18 | +5.9% |
For the 6 building fires Chadwick departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 12 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 | 5 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 8.3% |
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 Chadwick mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 1 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chadwick departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chadwick sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,030 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 617 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 12.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 75 | 26.1 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 | 61014 | 82 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Chadwick. 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.