In 2025, fire departments serving Metropolis responded to 134 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $26K 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 47% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
582 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.5M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 110 | — | |
| 2022 | 123 | +11.8% | |
| 2023 | 105 | -14.6% | |
| 2024 | 110 | +4.8% | |
| 2025 | 134 | +21.8% |
For the 25 building fires Metropolis departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 216 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 39 | 18.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 28 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 22.7% |
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 Metropolis mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 118 | 54.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 9 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 9 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Metropolis departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $26,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Metropolis sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,092 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 569 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 500 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 271 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 34.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 245 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 234 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 227 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 221 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 18.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 177 | 41.4 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 Metropolis. 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.