In 2025, fire departments serving Olympia Fields responded to 33 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K 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 88% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
194 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $657K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | +34.4% | |
| 2023 | 41 | -4.7% | |
| 2024 | 45 | +9.8% | |
| 2025 | 33 | -26.7% |
For the 0 building fires Olympia Fields departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | 47.4% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Olympia Fields mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 57.9% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Olympia Fields departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Olympia Fields sits below 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 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 22.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 20.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 21.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 22.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 20.4 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 Olympia Fields. 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.