In 2025, fire departments serving Fairfield responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K 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 71% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
385 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $15K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58 | — | |
| 2022 | 57 | -1.7% | |
| 2023 | 99 | +73.7% | |
| 2024 | 76 | -23.2% | |
| 2025 | 95 | +25.0% |
For the 28 building fires Fairfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 196 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 44 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 27 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 14 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 38 | 19.4% |
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 Fairfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 85 | 43.4% | |
| 2 | Match | 17 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 14 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 28 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fairfield departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fairfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,241 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 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 177 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 176 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 115 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 65 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 43 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 48.9 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 Fairfield. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fairfield.
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.