In 2025, fire departments serving Hawthorn Woods responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
242 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | — | |
| 2022 | 30 | -14.3% | |
| 2023 | 55 | +83.3% | |
| 2024 | 79 | +43.6% | |
| 2025 | 43 | -45.6% |
For the 11 building fires Hawthorn Woods departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 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 Hawthorn Woods mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hawthorn Woods departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hawthorn Woods sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,537 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 | 17.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 11.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 19.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Hawthorn Woods. 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.