In 2025, fire departments serving Ridgway responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 84% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
76 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 3 | — | |
| 2023 | 14 | — | |
| 2024 | 34 | +142.9% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -26.5% |
* Well below Ridgway'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 4 building fires Ridgway departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 17 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 | 3 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Incinerator area | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 11.8% |
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 Ridgway mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 47.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 5.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ridgway sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,054 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 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 190 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 177 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 176 | 9.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 150 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 129 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 38.1 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 Ridgway. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ridgway.
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.