In 2025, fire departments serving Chrisman responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 68% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
124 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | +69.6% | |
| 2023* | 10 | — | |
| 2024 | 30 | — | |
| 2025 | 22 | -26.7% |
* Well below Chrisman's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Chrisman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | Undetermined | 46 | 69.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 6.1% |
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 Chrisman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 59 | 89.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chrisman departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chrisman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 19 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 735 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 34.4 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 | 61924 | 124 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Chrisman. 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.