In 2025, fire departments serving Philo responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $140K 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 65% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
108 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 45 | +60.7% | |
| 2024 | 14 | -68.9% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +42.9% |
* Well below Philo'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 5 building fires Philo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | 10 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 5.0% |
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 Philo mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 55.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 1 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Philo departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $140,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Philo sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 17 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 500 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 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 5.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 5.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 35.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Philo. 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.