In 2025, fire departments serving Gillespie responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $65K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
184 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $885K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 42 | — | |
| 2023 | 46 | +9.5% | |
| 2024 | 35 | -23.9% | |
| 2025 | 43 | +22.9% |
* Well below Gillespie'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 Gillespie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 71 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 | 43 | 60.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Closet | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 9.9% |
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 Gillespie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 93.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 1.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gillespie departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Cultivated vegetation, crop fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gillespie sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,939 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 4.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 48.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Gillespie. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gillespie.
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.