In 2025, fire departments serving Hanover Park responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 85% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
200 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $355K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 113 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | -77.0% | |
| 2023* | 22 | — | |
| 2024* | 13 | — | |
| 2025 | 26 | — |
* Well below Hanover Park'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 17 building fires Hanover Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 22.7% |
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 Hanover Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 22.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hanover Park sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,069 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 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 42.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Hanover Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hanover Park.
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.