In 2025, fire departments serving Rolling Meadows responded to 135 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 64% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
701 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 118 | — | |
| 2022 | 149 | +26.3% | |
| 2023 | 154 | +3.4% | |
| 2024 | 145 | -5.8% | |
| 2025 | 135 | -6.9% |
For the 13 building fires Rolling Meadows departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 147 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 | 17.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 25 | 17.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 18 | 12.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 17.0% |
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 Rolling Meadows mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 51 | 34.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 16 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 11.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rolling Meadows departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $12,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rolling Meadows sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,842 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 750 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 291 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 232 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 204 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 187 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 170 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 124 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 111 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 104 | 49.9 mi |
Top 7 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 Rolling Meadows. 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.