In 2025, fire departments serving Pinckneyville responded to 39 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. 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 51% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
254 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | +7.1% | |
| 2023 | 69 | +53.3% | |
| 2024 | 59 | -14.5% | |
| 2025 | 39 | -33.9% |
For the 4 building fires Pinckneyville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 106 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 | 38 | 35.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 10 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 9.4% |
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 Pinckneyville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 62 | 58.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pinckneyville departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pinckneyville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,298 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 409 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 8.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 160 | 8.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 102 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 73 | 30.7 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 Pinckneyville. 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.