In 2025, fire departments serving New Lenox responded to 216 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Dec peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,050 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $807K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 184 | — | |
| 2022 | 196 | +6.5% | |
| 2023 | 192 | -2.0% | |
| 2024 | 262 | +36.5% | |
| 2025 | 216 | -17.6% |
For the 11 building fires New Lenox departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 112 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 | 29 | 25.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 18 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 22.3% |
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 New Lenox mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 51 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by New Lenox departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. New Lenox 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 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 35.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 35.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 34.5 mi |
Top 8 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 New Lenox. 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.