In 2025, fire departments serving Hillsboro responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $65K 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 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
145 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $536K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | -20.0% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -14.3% | |
| 2025 | 44 | +83.3% |
* Well below Hillsboro'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 Hillsboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 14 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Structural area, other | 10 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 11.9% |
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 Hillsboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 55.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hillsboro departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hillsboro sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,510 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 | 200 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 46.3 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 Hillsboro. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hillsboro.
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.