In 2025, fire departments serving Glencoe responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 79% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
386 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $171K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 85 | — | |
| 2022 | 66 | -22.4% | |
| 2023 | 60 | -9.1% | |
| 2024 | 102 | +70.0% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -28.4% |
For the 0 building fires Glencoe departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | Outside area, other | 7 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Chimney (conversion only) | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.8% |
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 Glencoe mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Sunlight | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glencoe departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glencoe sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,618 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 | 18.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 43.3 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 Glencoe. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Glencoe.
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.