In 2025, fire departments serving Pontoon Beach responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
256 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $587K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 28 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | — | |
| 2023 | 44 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 67 | +52.3% | |
| 2025 | 73 | +9.0% |
* Well below Pontoon Beach'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 8 building fires Pontoon Beach departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 112 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 | 25 | 22.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 23 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 14 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 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 Pontoon Beach mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 76 | 67.9% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pontoon Beach departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pontoon Beach sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,998 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 56 | 48.8 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 Pontoon Beach. 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.