In 2025, fire departments serving McHenry responded to 277 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,241 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $5.8M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 286 | — | |
| 2022 | 204 | -28.7% | |
| 2023 | 221 | +8.3% | |
| 2024 | 253 | +14.5% | |
| 2025 | 277 | +9.5% |
For the 49 building fires McHenry departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 221 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 | 30 | 13.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 19 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 80 | 36.2% |
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 McHenry mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 85 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 27 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 18 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 13 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 29 | 13.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by McHenry departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $245,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $110,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $80,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. McHenry sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
22 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 7 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 5 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,564 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 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 4.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 44.6 mi |
Top 5 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 McHenry. 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.