In 2025, fire departments serving Glenwood responded to 155 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
720 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 140 | — | |
| 2022 | 128 | -8.6% | |
| 2023 | 159 | +24.2% | |
| 2024 | 138 | -13.2% | |
| 2025 | 155 | +12.3% |
For the 41 building fires Glenwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 149 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 20.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 14.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 21 | 14.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 11 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 16.1% |
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 Glenwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 88 | 59.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 8.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glenwood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $27,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glenwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 17.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 18.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 16.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 16.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 18.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 15.9 mi |
Top 6 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 Glenwood. 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.