In 2025, fire departments serving Farmer City responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. 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 63% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
239 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $390K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 58 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | -8.6% | |
| 2023 | 38 | -28.3% | |
| 2024 | 39 | +2.6% | |
| 2025 | 51 | +30.8% |
For the 3 building fires Farmer City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 16 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 16 | 23.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 11.9% |
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 Farmer City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 41.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 11.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Farmer City departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Farmer City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 905 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 48.3 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 | 61842 | 239 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Farmer City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Farmer City.
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.