In 2025, fire departments serving Plainfield responded to 447 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,076 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $19.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 385 | — | |
| 2022 | 408 | +6.0% | |
| 2023 | 393 | -3.7% | |
| 2024 | 443 | +12.7% | |
| 2025 | 447 | +0.9% |
For the 37 building fires Plainfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 340 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 61 | 17.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 37 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 24 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 21 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 15 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 13 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 123 | 36.2% |
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 Plainfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 139 | 40.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 39 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 23 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 19 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 15 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 53 | 15.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Plainfield departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 74% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Plainfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,920 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Natural | 600 | 19.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 396 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 341 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 253 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 244 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 216 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 191 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 47.0 mi |
Top 10 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 Plainfield. 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.