In 2025, fire departments serving Mundelein responded to 329 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 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,553 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 291 | — | |
| 2022 | 261 | -10.3% | |
| 2023 | 315 | +20.7% | |
| 2024 | 357 | +13.3% | |
| 2025 | 329 | -7.8% |
For the 75 building fires Mundelein departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 152 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 | 25 | 16.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 11 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 45 | 29.6% |
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 Mundelein mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 43.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Candle | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 11.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mundelein departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mundelein sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
26 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 7 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 3 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,528 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 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 200 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 180 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 76 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 16.0 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 Mundelein. 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.