In 2025, fire departments serving Rochelle responded to 142 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
785 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 152 | — | |
| 2022 | 138 | -9.2% | |
| 2023 | 145 | +5.1% | |
| 2024 | 208 | +43.4% | |
| 2025 | 142 | -31.7% |
For the 25 building fires Rochelle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 236 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 | 35 | 14.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 32 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 28 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 17 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 10 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 72 | 30.5% |
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 Rochelle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 25 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 10 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 15.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rochelle departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $16,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rochelle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,929 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 75 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 7.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 60 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 27.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Rochelle. 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.