In 2025, fire departments serving Cuba responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
103 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $583K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | -24.1% | |
| 2023 | 18 | -18.2% | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 25 | — |
* Well below Cuba'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 6 building fires Cuba departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | 21 | 70.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 3.3% |
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 Cuba mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 73.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cuba departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cuba sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,426 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 18.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 37 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 28 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 31.9 mi |
Top 3 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 Cuba. 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.