In 2025, fire departments serving Highwood responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 93% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
169 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $267K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 51 | +64.5% | |
| 2024 | 27 | -47.1% | |
| 2025 | 29 | +7.4% |
For the 0 building fires Highwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 6 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 18.2% |
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 Highwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Highwood departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Highwood sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,456 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 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 48.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Highwood. 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.