In 2025, fire departments serving Jacksonville responded to 287 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 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,418 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 253 | — | |
| 2022 | 253 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 324 | +28.1% | |
| 2024 | 301 | -7.1% | |
| 2025 | 287 | -4.7% |
For the 26 building fires Jacksonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 377 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 | 134 | 35.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 36 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 24 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 13 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Other | 12 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 89 | 23.6% |
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 Jacksonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 277 | 73.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 4.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 2.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 25 | 6.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jacksonville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 63% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $82,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $34,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jacksonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,049 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 | 375 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 2.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 6.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 49.4 mi |
Top 4 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 Jacksonville. 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.