In 2025, fire departments serving Orion responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 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 57% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
108 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | — | |
| 2023 | 41 | +141.2% | |
| 2024 | 18 | -56.1% | |
| 2025 | 21 | +16.7% |
* Well below Orion's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Orion departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 17 | 63.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.7% |
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 Orion mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 63.0% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Orion departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Orion sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,588 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,200 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 832 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 820 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 333 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 282 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 232 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 17.4 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 Orion. 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.