In 2025, fire departments serving Gifford responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
79 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $883K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 14 | — | |
| 2024 | 23 | +64.3% | |
| 2025 | 20 | -13.0% |
* Well below Gifford's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Gifford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 43.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 1 | 3.3% |
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 Gifford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Match | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gifford departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gifford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 23 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 750 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 8.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 48.9 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 61847 | 79 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Gifford. 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.