In 2025, fire departments serving Forest Park responded to 105 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
586 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 103 | — | |
| 2022 | 113 | +9.7% | |
| 2023 | 124 | +9.7% | |
| 2024 | 141 | +13.7% | |
| 2025 | 105 | -25.5% |
For the 30 building fires Forest Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 101 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 29.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Corridor, mall | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 28.7% |
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 Forest Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 9.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Forest Park departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Forest Park sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,291 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 32.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 32.1 mi |
Top 6 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 Forest Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.