In 2025, fire departments serving Highland Park responded to 269 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Jun peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,422 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $6.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 292 | — | |
| 2022 | 279 | -4.5% | |
| 2023 | 236 | -15.4% | |
| 2024 | 346 | +46.6% | |
| 2025 | 269 | -22.3% |
For the 40 building fires Highland Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 156 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 | 29 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 33.3% |
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 Highland Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 74 | 47.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 9.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Highland Park departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Highland Park sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,618 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 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 47.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 47.4 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 | 60035 | 1,422 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Highland Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Highland 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.