In 2025, fire departments serving Creston responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $12K 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 85% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
70 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $124K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | — | |
| 2024 | 14 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 13 | -7.1% |
* Well below Creston'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 3 building fires Creston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 23.8% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Creston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 28.6% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Creston departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Creston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,022 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 10.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 60 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 23.9 mi |
Top 2 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 Creston. 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.