In 2025, fire departments serving Harvard responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Harvard's departments reported 37 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 96 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 87% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
479 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 100 | — | |
| 2022 | 76 | -24.0% | |
| 2023 | 155 | +103.9% | |
| 2024 | 111 | -28.4% | |
| 2025* | 37 | — |
* Well below Harvard'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 19 building fires Harvard departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 98 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 | Undetermined | 24 | 24.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 25.5% |
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 Harvard mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 45 | 45.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Harvard departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Harvard sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,430 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,100 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 580 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 254 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 252 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Smoking | 169 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Smoking | 81 | 49.1 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 Harvard. 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.