In 2025, fire departments serving Crystal Lake responded to 358 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,010 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $9.4M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 324 | — | |
| 2022 | 398 | +22.8% | |
| 2023 | 531 | +33.4% | |
| 2024 | 399 | -24.9% | |
| 2025 | 358 | -10.3% |
For the 33 building fires Crystal Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 262 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 | 65 | 24.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 29 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 23 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 19 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 12 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 59 | 22.5% |
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 Crystal Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 143 | 54.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 11 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 3 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Crystal Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Crystal Lake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,684 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 10.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 41.1 mi |
Top 6 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 Crystal Lake. 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.