In 2025, fire departments serving Elmhurst responded to 289 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 59% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,463 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 308 | — | |
| 2022 | 296 | -3.9% | |
| 2023 | 317 | +7.1% | |
| 2024 | 253 | -20.2% | |
| 2025 | 289 | +14.2% |
For the 26 building fires Elmhurst departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 181 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 47 | 26.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 41 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Roof surface: exterior | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 38 | 21.0% |
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 Elmhurst mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 73 | 40.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 24 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 15 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Candle | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 9.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elmhurst departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 73% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $23,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elmhurst sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,291 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 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 38.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Elmhurst. 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.