In 2025, fire departments serving Payson responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $69K 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 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
54 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $148K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022* | 4 | — | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | 16 | — | |
| 2025 | 18 | +12.5% |
* Well below Payson'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 3 building fires Payson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 2 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Payson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Payson departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $68,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $3,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Payson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,687 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 1,050 | 36.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 835 | 14.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 280 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 238 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 210 | 8.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 42.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 14.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 140 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 140 | 32.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 37.1 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 Payson. 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.