In 2025, fire departments serving Galesburg responded to 323 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,612 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.9M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 351 | — | |
| 2022 | 280 | -20.2% | |
| 2023 | 321 | +14.6% | |
| 2024 | 337 | +5.0% | |
| 2025 | 323 | -4.2% |
For the 32 building fires Galesburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 359 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 | 94 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 27 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 25 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 15 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 14 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 8 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 99 | 27.6% |
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 Galesburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 240 | 66.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 4.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 15 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 5 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Galesburg departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $90,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $14,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Galesburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
13 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,793 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 31.2 mi |
Top 4 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 Galesburg. 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.