In 2025, fire departments serving Pesotum responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 79% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
125 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $213K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | -17.4% | |
| 2023 | 35 | +84.2% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -31.4% | |
| 2025 | 24 | +0.0% |
For the 4 building fires Pesotum departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | 17 | 41.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 2.4% |
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 Pesotum mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 63.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.4% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pesotum sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 21 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 697 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 17.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 41.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Pesotum. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pesotum.
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.