In 2025, fire departments serving Fox Lake responded to 157 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
792 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 184 | — | |
| 2022 | 151 | -17.9% | |
| 2023 | 158 | +4.6% | |
| 2024 | 142 | -10.1% | |
| 2025 | 157 | +10.6% |
For the 28 building fires Fox Lake departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 68 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 | 12 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 29.4% |
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 Fox Lake mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 36.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fox Lake departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $170,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $45,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fox Lake sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
34 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 11 | |
| 30-39 | 9 | |
| 40-49 | 9 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,564 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 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 5.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 45.6 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 Fox Lake. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fox Lake.
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.