In 2025, fire departments serving Heyworth responded to 52 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 50% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
171 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $534K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 19 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | — | |
| 2023 | 25 | -37.5% | |
| 2024 | 35 | +40.0% | |
| 2025 | 52 | +48.6% |
* Well below Heyworth'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 7 building fires Heyworth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 57 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 26.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 24.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 8.8% |
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 Heyworth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 40.4% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 7.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Heyworth departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Heyworth sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,631 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 | 375 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 5.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 25.0 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 | 61745 | 171 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Heyworth. 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.