In 2025, fire departments serving Palos Heights responded to 133 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 74% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
465 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $596K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 85 | — | |
| 2022 | 81 | -4.7% | |
| 2023 | 71 | -12.3% | |
| 2024 | 95 | +33.8% | |
| 2025 | 133 | +40.0% |
For the 32 building fires Palos Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | 5 | 15.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Wall assembly | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 21.2% |
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 Palos Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat source: other | 9 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 15.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 4 | 12.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Palos Heights departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $430 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $400 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Palos Heights 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 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 27.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 26.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 25.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 27.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 25.1 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 Palos Heights. 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.