In 2025, fire departments serving Lake Barrington responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Feb peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
112 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $341K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | -28.6% | |
| 2023 | 18 | -10.0% | |
| 2024 | 25 | +38.9% | |
| 2025 | 21 | -16.0% |
For the 1 building fires Lake Barrington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 17 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 | 5 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 6 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 5.9% |
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 Lake Barrington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 5.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lake Barrington sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,539 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 10.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 24.4 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 Lake Barrington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lake Barrington.
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.