In 2025, fire departments serving Shawneetown responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 86% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
50 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $174K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 7 | +16.7% | |
| 2023 | 15 | +114.3% | |
| 2024 | 8 | -46.7% | |
| 2025 | 14 | +75.0% |
For the 3 building fires Shawneetown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 17.2% |
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 Shawneetown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 27.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shawneetown departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shawneetown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,205 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 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 190 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 177 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 176 | 9.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 160 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 150 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 129 | 29.2 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 | 62984 | 50 |
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Shawneetown. 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.