In 2025, fire departments serving Hillsdale responded to 27 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
99 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022* | 11 | — | |
| 2023 | 19 | — | |
| 2024 | 26 | +36.8% | |
| 2025 | 27 | +3.8% |
* Well below Hillsdale'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 4 building fires Hillsdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | Outside area, other | 8 | 42.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Hillsdale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 68.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 5.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hillsdale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,927 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 3.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 75 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 43.1 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 | 61257 | 99 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Hillsdale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hillsdale.
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.