In 2025, fire departments serving Gurnee responded to 239 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.5M 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 67% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,225 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 261 | — | |
| 2022 | 240 | -8.0% | |
| 2023 | 264 | +10.0% | |
| 2024 | 221 | -16.3% | |
| 2025 | 239 | +8.1% |
For the 40 building fires Gurnee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 219 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 | 57 | 26.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 36 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 56 | 25.6% |
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 Gurnee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 83 | 37.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 33 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 31 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gurnee departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $380,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gurnee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,528 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 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 8.4 mi |
Top 7 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 Gurnee. 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.