In 2025, fire departments serving Elwood responded to 94 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 82% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
354 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | -1.8% | |
| 2023 | 71 | +26.8% | |
| 2024 | 76 | +7.0% | |
| 2025 | 94 | +23.7% |
For the 35 building fires Elwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | 20 | 27.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 23.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 9 | 12.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 15.1% |
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 Elwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 53.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elwood departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,412 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 3.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 46.4 mi |
Top 8 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 Elwood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elwood.
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.