In 2025, fire departments serving Palos Park responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 73% of all calls.
May peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
514 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $515K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 107 | +24.4% | |
| 2023 | 104 | -2.8% | |
| 2024 | 102 | -1.9% | |
| 2025 | 115 | +12.7% |
For the 31 building fires Palos Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 40 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 | 9 | 22.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 25.0% |
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 Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 32.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 15.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 4 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Candle | 2 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Palos Park departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,800 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,800 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Palos Park 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 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 31.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 274 | 32.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 31.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 30.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 31.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 29.9 mi |
Top 7 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 Park. 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.