In 2025, fire departments serving Hazel Crest responded to 180 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 78% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
958 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 197 | — | |
| 2022 | 204 | +3.6% | |
| 2023 | 138 | -32.4% | |
| 2024 | 239 | +73.2% | |
| 2025 | 180 | -24.7% |
For the 60 building fires Hazel Crest departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 125 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 | 28 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 13 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 11 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 10 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 10 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 22.4% |
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 Hazel Crest mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Candle | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hazel Crest departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hazel Crest sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 21.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 22.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 20.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 20.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 21.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 19.4 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 Hazel Crest. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hazel Crest.
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.