In 2025, fire departments serving Mahomet responded to 129 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K 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 55% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
563 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 95 | — | |
| 2022 | 116 | +22.1% | |
| 2023 | 121 | +4.3% | |
| 2024 | 102 | -15.7% | |
| 2025 | 129 | +26.5% |
For the 11 building fires Mahomet departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 114 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 | 24 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 20 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 16 | 14.0% |
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 Mahomet mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 50.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Match | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mahomet departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mahomet sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 872 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 12.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 23.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 61853 | 563 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Mahomet. 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.