In 2025, fire departments serving Rossville responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
68 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 10 | — | |
| 2023 | 18 | +80.0% | |
| 2024 | 16 | -11.1% | |
| 2025 | 16 | +0.0% |
* Well below Rossville'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 1 building fires Rossville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | Outside area, other | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 13.3% |
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 Rossville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 23.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 3.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rossville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 15 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 405 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 35 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 6.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 15 | 11.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Smoking | 10 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 | 36.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60963 | 68 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Rossville. 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.