In 2025, fire departments serving Ilion responded to 55 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
313 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | +36.7% | |
| 2023 | 57 | -14.9% | |
| 2024 | 85 | +49.1% | |
| 2025 | 55 | -35.3% |
For the 4 building fires Ilion departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 70 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 15.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 25.7% |
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 Ilion mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 37.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 3 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ilion departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ilion sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,218 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 70 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 65 | 29.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 47 | 18.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 40 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 39 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 38 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 38 | 47.5 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Ilion. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ilion.
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.