In 2025, fire departments serving Geneva responded to 187 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $325K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
953 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 210 | — | |
| 2022 | 156 | -25.7% | |
| 2023 | 195 | +25.0% | |
| 2024 | 205 | +5.1% | |
| 2025 | 187 | -8.8% |
For the 25 building fires Geneva departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 177 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 | 36 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Other | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 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 Geneva mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 93 | 52.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 12.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Geneva departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $325,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Geneva sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,279 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 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 36.6 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 Geneva. 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.