In 2025, fire departments serving Oglesby responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
296 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | +23.3% | |
| 2023 | 95 | +79.2% | |
| 2024 | 49 | -48.4% | |
| 2025 | 56 | +14.3% |
For the 9 building fires Oglesby departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 45 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 | 9 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 6 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 17.8% |
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 Oglesby mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 48.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oglesby departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oglesby sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,667 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 5.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 7.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 4.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 67 | 46.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 61348 | 296 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Oglesby. 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.