In 2025, fire departments serving Clifton responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 65% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
100 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 23 | — | |
| 2023 | 20 | -13.0% | |
| 2024 | 21 | +5.0% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +23.8% |
* Well below Clifton'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 4 building fires Clifton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 12 | 35.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 14.7% |
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 Clifton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clifton departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clifton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,945 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 32.6 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 | 60927 | 100 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Clifton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clifton.
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.