In 2025, fire departments serving Homer Glen responded to 141 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 61% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
751 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 133 | — | |
| 2022 | 127 | -4.5% | |
| 2023 | 177 | +39.4% | |
| 2024 | 173 | -2.3% | |
| 2025 | 141 | -18.5% |
For the 16 building fires Homer Glen departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 80 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 13.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Interior stairway or ramp | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 30.0% |
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 Homer Glen mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Homer Glen departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $80 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Homer Glen sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 33.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 33.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 32.7 mi |
Top 9 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 Homer Glen. 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.