In 2025, fire departments serving Danville responded to 554 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $305K 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,399 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $7.7M cumulative property loss. 6 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 609 | — | |
| 2022 | 674 | +10.7% | |
| 2023 | 778 | +15.4% | |
| 2024 | 784 | +0.8% | |
| 2025 | 554 | -29.3% |
For the 108 building fires Danville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 868 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 | 208 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 122 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 66 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 56 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 50 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 33 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 28 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 25 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 24 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 22 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 234 | 27.0% |
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 Danville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 476 | 54.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 70 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 40 | 4.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 38 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 36 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 27 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 26 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 25 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 19 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 16 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 95 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Danville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 64% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $305,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Danville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
47 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 | 15 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 9 | |
| 50-59 | 6 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 16 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 630 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 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 6.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 7.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 | 46.7 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 Danville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Danville.
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.