In 2025, fire departments serving Paxton responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
77 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $810K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 7 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023 | 19 | — | |
| 2024 | 21 | +10.5% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +23.8% |
* Well below Paxton'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 8 building fires Paxton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 23.1% |
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 Paxton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Paxton departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $220,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Paxton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 810 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 35 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 29.2 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60957 | 77 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Paxton. 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.