In 2025, fire departments serving Kewanee responded to 169 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K 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 43% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
798 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 136 | — | |
| 2022 | 132 | -2.9% | |
| 2023 | 167 | +26.5% | |
| 2024 | 194 | +16.2% | |
| 2025 | 169 | -12.9% |
For the 23 building fires Kewanee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 243 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 46 | 18.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 43 | 17.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 22 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 20 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 17 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 51 | 21.0% |
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 Kewanee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 133 | 54.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 8.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 12 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 11 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 7.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kewanee departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $36,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kewanee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,888 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 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 60 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 55 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 41.8 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 Kewanee. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kewanee.
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.