In 2025, fire departments serving Erie responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
161 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | -25.0% | |
| 2023 | 26 | -3.7% | |
| 2024 | 36 | +38.5% | |
| 2025 | 36 | +0.0% |
For the 4 building fires Erie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 85 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 | 27 | 31.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 11.8% |
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 Erie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 56 | 65.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 3.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Erie sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,917 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 8.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 75 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 | 20.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 38.1 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 61250 | 161 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Erie. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Erie.
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.