In 2025, fire departments serving Momence responded to 197 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10.0M 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 83% of all calls.
Feb peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
644 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $31.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 111 | — | |
| 2022 | 111 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 124 | +11.7% | |
| 2024 | 101 | -18.5% | |
| 2025 | 197 | +95.0% |
For the 90 building fires Momence departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 81 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 | 23 | 28.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 5 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 23.5% |
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 Momence mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 42 | 51.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 7.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Momence departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 | Building fires | Catastrophic | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Garbage dump or sanitary landfill fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Momence sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,306 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 37.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 34.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 35.3 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 Momence. 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.