In 2025, fire departments serving Rock Falls responded to 151 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $85K 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 49% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
758 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 110 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | +36.4% | |
| 2023 | 148 | -1.3% | |
| 2024 | 199 | +34.5% | |
| 2025 | 151 | -24.1% |
For the 21 building fires Rock Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 177 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 23 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 26.0% |
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 Rock Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 91 | 51.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 9 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 7.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rock Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $85,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rock Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 8 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,218 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 640 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 265 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 110 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Recreation and ceremony | 100 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 75 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 70 | 30.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Rock Falls. 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.