In 2025, fire departments serving Orland Hills responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 69% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
237 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $456K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | -13.5% | |
| 2023 | 54 | +20.0% | |
| 2024 | 54 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 32 | -40.7% |
For the 1 building fires Orland Hills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 18.2% |
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 Orland Hills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 6 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 13.6% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Orland Hills 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 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 30.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 28.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 29.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 27.2 mi |
Top 3 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 Orland Hills. 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.