In 2025, fire departments serving Morris responded to 282 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 70% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,309 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $8.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 295 | — | |
| 2022 | 212 | -28.1% | |
| 2023 | 236 | +11.3% | |
| 2024 | 284 | +20.3% | |
| 2025 | 282 | -0.7% |
For the 53 building fires Morris departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 181 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 | 50 | 27.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 36 | 19.9% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 38 | 21.0% |
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 Morris mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 83 | 45.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 19 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Morris departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Morris sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,570 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 13.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 48.4 mi |
Top 7 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 Morris. 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.