In 2025, fire departments serving Glen Ellyn responded to 229 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $316K 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 74% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,135 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 219 | — | |
| 2022 | 253 | +15.5% | |
| 2023 | 201 | -20.6% | |
| 2024 | 233 | +15.9% | |
| 2025 | 229 | -1.7% |
For the 16 building fires Glen Ellyn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 97 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 | 19 | 19.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 9 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 30.9% |
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 Glen Ellyn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 53.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 7.2% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 5 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glen Ellyn departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $316,248 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glen Ellyn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,291 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 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 44.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 43.2 mi |
Top 3 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 Glen Ellyn. 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.