In 2025, fire departments serving East Dubuque responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
150 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $406K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | — | |
| 2022* | 16 | — | |
| 2023 | 25 | — | |
| 2024 | 37 | +48.0% | |
| 2025 | 45 | +21.6% |
* Well below East Dubuque'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 1 building fires East Dubuque departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | Outside area, other | 10 | 25.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 17.9% |
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 East Dubuque mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 10 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 15.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by East Dubuque departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. East Dubuque sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,346 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 189 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 100 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 75 | 24.5 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 East Dubuque. 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.