In 2025, fire departments serving Du Quoin responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
403 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 112 | — | |
| 2022 | 112 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 51 | -54.5% | |
| 2024 | 51 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 77 | +51.0% |
For the 6 building fires Du Quoin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 114 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 | 32 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 11 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 21.1% |
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 Du Quoin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 76 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Du Quoin departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Du Quoin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,810 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 409 | 29.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 245 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 3.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 1.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 2.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 102 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 18.0 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 Du Quoin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Du Quoin.
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.