In 2025, fire departments serving Princeville responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
90 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $159K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | — | |
| 2023 | 18 | -5.3% | |
| 2024 | 22 | +22.2% | |
| 2025 | 21 | -4.5% |
* Well below Princeville'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 3 building fires Princeville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | 7 | 21.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 15.6% |
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 Princeville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Princeville departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Princeville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,211 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 375 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 9.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 60 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 51 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 30.4 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 Princeville. 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.