In 2025, fire departments serving Mattoon responded to 320 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 48% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,246 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 153 | — | |
| 2022 | 219 | +43.1% | |
| 2023 | 281 | +28.3% | |
| 2024 | 273 | -2.8% | |
| 2025 | 320 | +17.2% |
For the 25 building fires Mattoon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 219 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 | 55 | 25.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 29 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 20 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 65 | 29.7% |
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 Mattoon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 98 | 44.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 28 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 8.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mattoon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 88% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mattoon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 20 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 891 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 23.6 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 Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Mattoon. 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.