In 2025, fire departments serving Hammond responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
52 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 8 | -38.5% | |
| 2024 | 7 | -12.5% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +185.7% |
* Well below Hammond'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 Hammond departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Structural area, other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 16.7% |
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 Hammond mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 1 | 16.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hammond sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 23 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,059 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 6.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 20.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 61929 | 52 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Hammond. 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.