In 2025, fire departments serving Mount Vernon responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 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 78% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
83 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +38.5% | |
| 2023 | 12 | -33.3% | |
| 2024 | 12 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 28 | +133.3% |
For the 8 building fires Mount Vernon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | Outside area, other | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Mount Vernon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mount Vernon departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mount Vernon sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,611 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 24.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 73 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 51 | 42.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Mount Vernon. 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.