In 2025, fire departments serving Ford Heights responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
299 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 82 | — | |
| 2022 | 36 | -56.1% | |
| 2023 | 51 | +41.7% | |
| 2024 | 77 | +51.0% | |
| 2025 | 53 | -31.2% |
For the 16 building fires Ford Heights 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 | Undetermined | 30 | 35.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 8.2% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 20.0% |
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 Ford Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 58.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 3.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ford Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ford Heights sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 16.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 16.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 18.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 15.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 15.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 17.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 15.2 mi |
Top 3 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 Ford Heights. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ford Heights.
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.